Robert Steele - Rough Justice--A True Story

On the 8th June, 1992 I took up employment with St Helens Council as a Temporary Security Officer.

When I first started with the Council there were two static duties in Sherdley Park; one on the greenhouse and one on Pets Corner. Mick Gornall, Head of Security told me I had to check both compounds because there were no men for Pets Corner. I was out checking Pets Corner in the dark when Jimmy Johnson (Security Officer and Shop Steward for T& GWU) turned up and ask me what was I doing. Jimmy went mad and told me Mick had no right telling me to check Pets Corner, as it was not safe to do so.

I had only been in the job a couple of weeks and I went into work and Alan Duckworth, another Security Officer, said I have seen your job application form, then Mick came out of his office and said, I have had your job application form out again.

I found this bad man management; showing other Security Officers my application form. I was not happy about it but said nothing as I had just started in the job and looked at it as an incompetent manager.

In 1994 I was made permanent and a couple of weeks later all the Security Officers signed a vote of no confidence against Mick Gornall, Head of Security.

As I got on with Mick very well I refused to sign the vote of no confidence. I was the only permanent member of staff not to sign it. He had one temporary member of staff who told the lads he would have signed it if he had been in permanent employment.

I did not realise how much the Security Officers hated Mick Gornall. Within weeks, after the Security Officers signed a vote of no confidence, they put up in the Rest Room abusive words about Mick and also cartoon pictures of him over a weekend. Alec Grant and Keith Jones were the supervisors for security that weekend and the lads were advised to take them down,but ignored their advice. I think it was Keith Jones who took them down in the end and I now have one of the cartoon pictures and one of the lads cut out Hitlers head and put it on the cartoon of Mick. I did find the cartoon characters funny as they looked so like Mick and showed him as a scruff.

Since I started in June 1992 all the Security Officers accused Mick Gornall of underpaying their wages. Atmy interview Mick Gornall told me that they had a restructure in 1991 and all Security Officers were on Manual Scale 3, plus allowances and they were all calculated together. They were put on staff rates of pay and Mick said it came to Scale 3 of A.P.T. & Conditions of service.

Around 1994/95 Mick took over the contract for fitting alarms inside empty council houses. An outside company was originally doing the job. Mick was asking Derek Anders, supervisor for security what was Paul Molyneux like as a person as Derek knew Paul. Alan Duckworth (already with the Security Department) wanted the job to get off shifts and Mick never advertised it and brought Paul Molyneux into our department as the Housing Officer.

Again, around 1994/95 the council wanted Security Officers to collect fines for overdue library books from peoples houses. Security Officers refused to do it so Brendan Farrell, St Helens Council Personnel Manager put Phil Ward into Security to do the job. Phil was Brendans favourite the job finished within six months and Phil had no job in Security but Mick kept paying him wages instead of redeploying him or making him redundant.

Sometime between 1994 and 1995 Mick reckoned he had too many men in Security and myself and Jebby Robinson, another security office were taken to see Peter Mavers in the Assistant Directors office. Because of a last in first out basis we were told by Peter, Mick doesnt want to lose us as we were his best two officers and we were told we had to go to the building department or be made redundant.

Fortunately, two other Security Officers went over to building. Before I went to Peters office I made a complaint that Paul Molyneux the Housing Officer for Security was the last person in the job and he should have been one of the two to be made redundant or moved to the building contracts department. Peter told me he carried five years service over from another company. If they were to make him redundant they would have to paid him five years redundancy, I am not sure this is the truth. I believe Mick wished to keep Paul as he was a close friend.

When Paul Molyneux allegedly carried his five years service over Phil Ward never had a job in Security and when Mick decided to make two men redundant from Security he gave Phil my job as security officer as I only had two years service and Phil Ward had a longer service with the Council. This did not give Mick the right to give him my job as I was in permanent employment for that particular job and at the end of the day it was Phils job that was redundant and when he became a Patrolling Officer he only lasted a few weeks and he would not do the job because he refused to work nights. Again Mick kept him in Security with no job. In my opinion this was because Brendan Farell was Personnel Manager and Phil Ward was a close friend. Once again my job was put at risk when it should have been safe.

Sometime in 1995 there was a bomb scare in the depot over the weekend. John Swift, Supervisor of Security, was on 8 till 8 days and when his shift finished at 20.00 hrs he went home. Keith Jones, Supervisor of Security, booked four hours off his shift and came in at midnight. It was in Micks contract to cover for the supervisors.

Over the weekend the safe in security was robbed and I am certain it was robbed on the night shift, as that was the only time one person was left on their own. Due to staff shortages there were only two men on nights when there should have been three men. Had this been the case there would have been two men in the Control Room.

On the Monday I turned up for work at 1400 till 2200. When I got in Kenny Watterson, a Security Officer told me the safe had been robbed. I thought he was messing until John Swift (Supervisor for Security) came out of his office and confirmed it. John sent Kenny and I out on the cash run and Kenny finished at 1600.

Eric Clarke a Supervisor for Security had replaced John and told me to bring Kenny back to base as he finished at 1600. Eric sent Brian Wright a Security Officer out with me to finish the cash run. When we were leaving the depot Brian started telling me what premises the bags were stolen from and how much was in each bag, to the last penny. I dont know how Brian knew this as only so many bags were stolen and so many bags left behind. I thought to myself f****n hell Brian how do you know this. It made me think he had robbed the safe.

On my next 1600 till 2400 shift I was in the rest room and Ged Philbin a Security Officer was sat next to me and I was telling the lads that Brian Wright told me which premises the bags were stolen from and how much was in each bag to the last penny. Ged said, how does Bri Wright know this? I said, I dont know.

One of the lads reported what I told them to Alec Grant (Supervisor for Security) and when I came in on my next shift Alec asked me had Brian Wright told me where the bags were stolen from and how much was in them? I said yes he told me he has informed Mick Gornall but Mick never took it any further.

John Swift, Keith Jones, Keith Hackett and Brian Wright, Supervisors and Security Officers were suspended. Derek Anders (Supervisor for Security) told me he had told Mick not to put the safe in the Control Room and to put it in Micks office and he ignored him. This comment was made by Derek well before the safe was robbed.

If anyone should have been suspended it should have been Mick John never forgave Mick for what he had done to him and left the Council altogether.