In one of the more bizarre stories this week, an emergency worker has been sacked for ‘having sex’ in an ambulance at Fratton Park.
An employment tribunal heard how Emma Croydon was spotted driving into the car park at Portsmouth FC behind the ambulance and then got into the back of it with the male driver.
When two security guards approached the ambulance, they found the couple in a ‘state of undress’ with the man’s trousers undone and shoes off, as you do.
CCTV footage was then looked into and it showed the ambulance ‘swaying from side to side’, the panel heard.
The incident in the car park at Portsmouth Football Club was then investigated and the pair were both sacked for gross misconduct.
Miss Croydon said the guards had lied about what they had seen and argued that the ambulance service’s procedure was ‘flawed’ and ‘dishonest’, before later bringing a claim of unfair dismissal before an employment tribunal.
However it dismissed this, finding her conduct a fair reason for being fired.
The female started working for South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation trust, which covers the whole of Hampshire, in December 2015 as a healthcare professional technician.
The following year she started working as an ambulance care assistant, however went off sick in September 2018 due to ill health.
Three months later, during her sick leave, a security guard and a colleague saw the ambulance and an unmarked car drive into the League One club’s car park, where a blood donation unit was operating.
The vehicles parked next to each other and a man in uniform and Miss Croydon went into the ambulance together.
When security confronted the couple, they found the man with his shirt ‘untucked’ and his ‘belt undone’ after which the ambulance was seen ‘rocking from side-to-side quite significantly’.
The guard then put on the headlights of their car onto the ambulance and saw the man doing up his belt, the panel was told.
CCTV showed the woman coming out of the vehicle before then driving out of the car park.
Bosses were able to identify the male driver who was on duty using the ambulance’s registration plate and Miss Croydon was confirmed as driving the unmarked car, the panel heard.
The male driver was suspended, but it was the female who was not as she was absent from work but her conduct was investigated.
Miss Croydon told bosses she had been depressed and upset that evening and had seen her colleague by chance while waiting at traffic lights on a crossroads.
After he discovered just how upset she was, he questioned if she was alright and then said she should follow him, after which they drove to the car park but she denied being undressed and engaging in an act of sexual nature, the panel heard.
During the disciplinary hearing, she said she was not friends with the man but couldn’t explain why she went on to join him in the back of the ambulance with the lights off.
The hearing – held remotely from South London – was also told she argued that the security guards had lied about what they had seen, but this was not accepted as she could not explain why they would do this.
Miss Croydon lost her job for gross misconduct in April 2019 which she appealed, arguing the trust’s procedures were ‘flawed’ and ‘dishonest’, but her dismissal was upheld.
She then sued her former employer for unfair dismissal.
The panel, headed by employment judge Maxwell Charles Craft, dismissed her claim, concluding: ‘[The security guards] were trusted, longstanding employees of the football club and were not known to Miss Croydon.
‘She admitted she did not know of any reason why they would lie about what had happened. Their account was supported by the CCTV evidence.
‘The vehicle was seen to be swaying from side-to-side and the male colleague was seen with his trousers undone and shoes off and, subsequently, CCTV evidence indicates that Miss Croydon and her male colleague were either engaging in, or about to engage, in sexual activity.
‘The tribunal has concluded that at the relevant time the trust had a genuine belief Miss Croydon had been guilty of gross misconduct [for] inappropriate use of trust property; conduct likely to give an offence to patients, other employees, visitors or the general public; and conduct that had potential to impact on the reputation of the trust.’
Fans reacted after seeing that the emergency worker was sacked for ‘having sex’ in an ambulance at Fratton Park…
“I dunno Jeff, has there?”🤣
— green&goldfc🇵🇸 (@greengoldfc) August 20, 2021
@cafc___: taking clapping for the nhs to another level
@UtdMoxammed: how can u be that horny that u do it in an ambulance
@thfcjxmie: And in fratton park
@SilkyCyrus_74: you gotta rate it
@LukeHurrenpfc: Not just the team scoring at Fratton Park. I’ll see myself out.
@mwwhtafc81: Back of the net
@zebz2003: That’s got Pompey written all over it in all fairness
@ghostyforreal: She was having some rompy pompey…….
@OP4C: This is what happens if you dial 69-99
@isaacpollard12: Was definitely a relative
@sotoniansfc: you’re getting fucked in a pompey ambulance
@RickH0806: Harsh… Job is to attend those in need…
@andydavis1978: No way could you fit an ambulance in fratton park.
@marklongworth98: More like unsacking am I right?
@carlinG1416: Most exciting thing to happen at fratton park in years! #Pompey
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