Ian Stringer

[Brown Nose]

Reports from this case will be of interest to a number of us.

Ian disappeared from RL rather urgently and never a word was spoken about it. Subsequently, he has gone public about his mental health struggles and there has been plenty of sympathy shown towards him. When the topic of RL or some of his former colleagues have been raised, he has been very bitter.

Anyway, it seems like he was dismissed from RL for his blatant attempts to acquire free stuff by promoting brands on his social media. This isn't something a BBC employee is allowed to do.

WOTS is that the BBC have a lot of evidence. Stringer is claiming unfair dismissal. Lineker may be called as a witness.

 

[fox58]

Scoop

 

[Brown Nose]

Laurence Cawley
BBC News, Leicester

A former BBC sports journalist claims he was unfairly dismissed for whistleblowing.
Ian Stringer was employed by BBC Leicester as a sports journalist in 2008 after he appeared on the BBC’s show The Apprentice.
An employment tribunal in Leicester heard Mr Stringer, who later became the station’s Leicester City reporter, was suspended in 2021 and sacked the following year for what the BBC says was misconduct.
Mr Stringer has brought both an automatic unfair dismissal claim for whistleblowing and an ordinary unfair dismissal claim against the BBC.
On the first day of the hearing, the court was not told in public the nature of the claimed whistleblowing.
Giving evidence Mr Stringer confirmed a 17-page statement was his before he was cross-examined by Jesse Crozier, for the BBC.
The hearing was told how Mr Stringer had been given free use of a BMW 5 series and then an Audi A3 via a company called Total Motion.

'High-end cars'​

Mr Crozier listed a number of social media posts in which Mr Stringer, who had tens of thousands of followers, had “promoted” the company.
"The appearance that we see from the Twitter and the cars is you’re receiving high-end cars at zero cost and in response you’re providing promotion to your substantial Twitter following,” said Mr Crozier.
Mr Stringer claimed he was “identifying” rather than promoting the firm and said he received free use of the cars from a late friend who was a director of the firm.
“There was no agreement and there was no quid pro quo,” Mr Stringer told the tribunal.
The tribunal also heard how, in 2021, Mr Stringer contacted Garmin about a charitable run he was planning. His email to the firm mentioned his social media following, the court heard.
The company offered him two watches.
“You were seeking to get free kit from Garmin,” Mr Crozier said. “ This was an attempt to solicit free kit.
“The quid pro quo was if you promote us we will give you free stuff, correct?”

Social media policy​

Mr Stringer agreed he had sought charitable donations for the endeavour adding: “I accept it is an email asking for help.”
The tribunal heard how when Mr Stringer was investigated for his conduct he appeared to admit he had breached “various BBC policies and with the benefit of hindsight” accepted a “lapse of judgement”.
In evidence, Mr Stringer said the BBC had not supplied the “level of training” required. He added: “I don't believe what I did was gross misconduct.”
He accused the BBC of having a “changeable” policy on social media use and claimed some senior managers had used swear words in their social media posts.
“The BBC did not seem particularly to have grasped the juggernaut of social media. I would have welcomed a level of management to assist me with these policies.”
The hearing continues.

 

[homer]

Just based on those few paragraphs, I suspect that this will get thrown out pretty quickly

 

[give_us_a_wave]

This is what you get when you recruit via chuckouts from shit reality TV shows.

I read an article a couple of years ago about how many ex reality contestants are curently employed across TV, radio, print media & the internet as presenters, reporters & columnists/commentators. I was staggered that there were well over a hundred !

There are young people out there studying or already qualified in journalism &/or broadcasting who can't get work due to these talentless wankers. All because their names or faces might have some small resonance with the public. It's a ****ing disgrace.

These are people who are desperate to be famous (or at least known) so perfectly happy to work for less & happily push out any old shite just to stay in the public eye.

Hang your arse out on Big Brother & you can have a job talking bollocks on breakfast telly. Make a nice jam tart on Bake Off & you can end up as a lifestyle reporter.

Stringer is by far the worst reporter ever to cover City in my lifetime & this is local radio we're talking here. The kingdom of the mediocre. It seems like all of his ilk he's only there to milk the cash cow.

Nasty little lowlife ****.

But at the top of the tree is the "mental health " thing.

I know people whose lives are blighted by genuine issues with their mental stability in life changing ways. Watching a **** like Stringer clearly reeling it off as a ready made get out clause because he got caught being a shady little tosser just helps the people who like to sneer at mental health issues to make their case that it's all a load of old shit & everyone should just man the **** up.

Obnoxious, worthless, talentless, grifting little ****. I hope he never works again.

 

[Brown Nose]

But at the top of the tree is the "mental health " thing.

I know people whose lives are blighted by genuine issues with their mental stability in life changing ways. Watching a **** like Stringer clearly reeling it off as a ready made get out clause because he got caught being a shady little tosser just helps the people who like to sneer at mental health issues to make their case that it's all a load of old shit & everyone should just man the **** up.

Obnoxious, worthless, talentless, grifting little ****. I hope he never works again.

It's certainly possible that he has tried to play the mental health card during this whole thing.

However, it is more likely that he has had genuine struggles as a result of losing his career. He has written about certain people 'saving him'.

In a situation such as this, I think the only route is to believe Stringer and support him. I wish the guy well.

That in no way prevents me from being happy he's no longer commentating on us.

 

[give_us_a_wave]

It's certainly possible that he has tried to play the mental health card during this whole thing.

However, it is more likely that he has had genuine struggles as a result of losing his career. He has written about certain people 'saving him'.

In a situation such as this, I think the only route is to believe Stringer and support him. I wish the guy well.

That in no way prevents me from being happy he's no longer commentating on us.

Of course you're right & I appreciate that I'm playing a hunch. But he just seems exactly the type to resort to it in a desperate attempt to save himself. The comments about people " saving " him are straight out of the handbook of things you would say in that situation.
They also serve a dual purpose by suggesting that he has support for his position from some unnamed source(s) It also suggests that he's the sort of person who has friends & colleagues who care about him.

The " I'm a nice regular bloke being hounded " narrative. Designed to garner sympathy. A classic trope for those lacking a defense with anything factual to back it up.

I appreciate that I'm probably the worst person to judge this. A background in the bullshit arts of PR have left me assuming the worst whenever I think I can smell it. & when dealing with anyone with a media background I have to assume they've at least been basically tutored in it. BBC employees all go thourh it as part of their induction no matter what their eventual role is going to be so my skepticism knows no bounds.

Plus, of course, I desperately want him to be the worst person he can possibly be so I also have an agenda.

I should probably be locked up to be honest.

 

[Brown Nose]

I should probably be locked up to be honest.

Not at all. We need people who challenge the bullshit that we're asked to believe and you're absolutely within your rights to do so.

I'm just not comfortable with going after someone who may actually be vulnerable.

 

[jb5000]

It's certainly possible that he has tried to play the mental health card during this whole thing.

However, it is more likely that he has had genuine struggles as a result of losing his career. He has written about certain people 'saving him'.

In a situation such as this, I think the only route is to believe Stringer and support him. I wish the guy well.

That in no way prevents me from being happy he's no longer commentating on us.

This is the only part of GUAW's post I'd disagree with. He may well have mental health issues, they probably would be worsened by the situation he's in, and however much this is his own doing he should be supported in that regard. That said, he's not a great commentator even by the standard of local radio (whereas Owen Palmer-Adkin is half decent) and if what he's accussed of is true he shouldn't be working in any kind of journalism.

 

[Blue Maniac]

That said, he's not a great commentator even by the standard of local radio (whereas Owen Palmer-Adkin is half decent)

Other than OPA occasionally referencing the events of the game he’s commentating on, I can barely tell the difference. I like Stringer, though, for some reason I’ve never quite settled on. Met him a handful of times and he’s never been obviously an irredeemable ****, that could well be the top and bottom of it.

 

[camberwell fox]

Other than OPA occasionally referencing the events of the game he’s commentating on, I can barely tell the difference. I like Stringer, though, for some reason I’ve never quite settled on. Met him a handful of times and he’s never been obviously an irredeemable ****, that could well be the top and bottom of it.

To be fair it’s always difficult for a **** to identify another ****.

 

[Blue Maniac]

To be fair it’s always difficult for a **** to identify another ****.

Fair

 

[Fox Fan]

This is what you get when you recruit via chuckouts from shit reality TV shows.

I read an article a couple of years ago about how many ex reality contestants are curently employed across TV, radio, print media & the internet as presenters, reporters & columnists/commentators. I was staggered that there were well over a hundred !

There are young people out there studying or already qualified in journalism &/or broadcasting who can't get work due to these talentless wankers. All because their names or faces might have some small resonance with the public. It's a ****ing disgrace.

These are people who are desperate to be famous (or at least known) so perfectly happy to work for less & happily push out any old shite just to stay in the public eye.

Hang your arse out on Big Brother & you can have a job talking bollocks on breakfast telly. Make a nice jam tart on Bake Off & you can end up as a lifestyle reporter.

Stringer is by far the worst reporter ever to cover City in my lifetime & this is local radio we're talking here. The kingdom of the mediocre. It seems like all of his ilk he's only there to milk the cash cow.

Nasty little lowlife ****.

But at the top of the tree is the "mental health " thing.

I know people whose lives are blighted by genuine issues with their mental stability in life changing ways. Watching a **** like Stringer clearly reeling it off as a ready made get out clause because he got caught being a shady little tosser just helps the people who like to sneer at mental health issues to make their case that it's all a load of old shit & everyone should just man the **** up.

Obnoxious, worthless, talentless, grifting little ****. I hope he never works again.

Crickey, what's the guy ever done to you? Okay he might not be the best commentator in the world, but he has raised thousands for charities by running those marathons.

Going after the bloke because he had (and lost) a job in the public eye whilst being a be a bit fame hungry and then going on to call him a *'Nasty little low life ****'* seems way over board and to be honest, reflects pretty badly on you.

 

[Brown Nose]

By Laurence Cawley
BBC News, Leicester

An arrangement in which the BBC's Leicester City reporter got free leases on a BMW and an Audi were "blatantly wrong", a tribunal heard.
Ian Stringer was hired by BBC Leicester in 2008 and sacked in 2022 for what the BBC says was misconduct.
An employment tribunal in Leicester is hearing Mr Stringer's claims that he was unfairly dismissed.
Mark Moran, who made the decision to fire Mr Stringer, said the journalist should have disclosed the car leases.
The tribunal was told how Mr Stringer received the cars from the Leicester-based car firm Total Motion during a period of about three years.
The free leases came about because Mr Stringer was a close personal friend of one of the directors of the company, who has since died.
Mr Stringer maintains the cars were leased to him without contingencies or any suggestion of a quid pro quo.

But Mr Moran said not disclosing the leases as a personal interest "was so blatantly wrong".
"The fact somebody has, for whatever reason, been given the use of two very nice cars over a long period of time and didn't declare it or have a conversation with their manager about is just wrong."
Mr Stringer claims an investigation into his use of social media, in which he mentioned Total Motion and a number of other companies that provided him with free goods in connection with charitable work he was doing, only started after he blew the whistle about a suspected Covid rule breach.
Mr Stringer told the tribunal that in July 2021 the then station editor Kamlesh Purohit had "instructed" one of the team to come into work despite them being "pinged" by the Covid app - something the tribunal was told was "a breach of Covid rules".
Roy Magara, for Mr Stringer, said the investigation into Mr Stringer was "part and parcel of a harassment and bullying campaign against him" and had been orchestrated in response to his making a protected disclosure.
Jesse Crozier, for the BBC, has told the tribunal the two matters were deliberately dealt with separately and by people outside of BBC Leicester.

The employment tribunal heard Mr Stringer was given impartiality training in 2013 and an anti-bribery course in 2020
During the hearing Adam Smyth, the BBC's appeal hearing manager who agreed with Mr Moran's decision, was shown a tweet featuring Mr Stringer standing with boxer Tyson Fury at a Total Motion-branded event.
"This is clearly one of those events that would cause an issue because of the relationship between Ian Stringer and Total Motion," Mr Smith said.
While Mr Stringer maintains he repeatedly sought training on impartiality, Mr Smith said he was given impartiality training in 2013 and an anti-bribery course in 2020.
"Even if he was doing all of these things innocently, to have failed to take responsibility and agency and to have familiarised himself with the rules and policies... it is really not acceptable conduct."
The case continues.

 

[popillius]

To be fair it’s always difficult for a **** to identify another ****.

No it isn't, you ****.

 

[Fox Fan]

By Laurence Cawley
BBC News, Leicester

An arrangement in which the BBC's Leicester City reporter got free leases on a BMW and an Audi were "blatantly wrong", a tribunal heard.
Ian Stringer was hired by BBC Leicester in 2008 and sacked in 2022 for what the BBC says was misconduct.
An employment tribunal in Leicester is hearing Mr Stringer's claims that he was unfairly dismissed.
Mark Moran, who made the decision to fire Mr Stringer, said the journalist should have disclosed the car leases.
The tribunal was told how Mr Stringer received the cars from the Leicester-based car firm Total Motion during a period of about three years.
The free leases came about because Mr Stringer was a close personal friend of one of the directors of the company, who has since died.
Mr Stringer maintains the cars were leased to him without contingencies or any suggestion of a quid pro quo.

But Mr Moran said not disclosing the leases as a personal interest "was so blatantly wrong".
"The fact somebody has, for whatever reason, been given the use of two very nice cars over a long period of time and didn't declare it or have a conversation with their manager about is just wrong."
Mr Stringer claims an investigation into his use of social media, in which he mentioned Total Motion and a number of other companies that provided him with free goods in connection with charitable work he was doing, only started after he blew the whistle about a suspected Covid rule breach.
Mr Stringer told the tribunal that in July 2021 the then station editor Kamlesh Purohit had "instructed" one of the team to come into work despite them being "pinged" by the Covid app - something the tribunal was told was "a breach of Covid rules".
Roy Magara, for Mr Stringer, said the investigation into Mr Stringer was "part and parcel of a harassment and bullying campaign against him" and had been orchestrated in response to his making a protected disclosure.
Jesse Crozier, for the BBC, has told the tribunal the two matters were deliberately dealt with separately and by people outside of BBC Leicester.

The employment tribunal heard Mr Stringer was given impartiality training in 2013 and an anti-bribery course in 2020
During the hearing Adam Smyth, the BBC's appeal hearing manager who agreed with Mr Moran's decision, was shown a tweet featuring Mr Stringer standing with boxer Tyson Fury at a Total Motion-branded event.
"This is clearly one of those events that would cause an issue because of the relationship between Ian Stringer and Total Motion," Mr Smith said.
While Mr Stringer maintains he repeatedly sought training on impartiality, Mr Smith said he was given impartiality training in 2013 and an anti-bribery course in 2020.
"Even if he was doing all of these things innocently, to have failed to take responsibility and agency and to have familiarised himself with the rules and policies... it is really not acceptable conduct."
The case continues.

It's not like he's an elected official making laws on trainers and watches or reviewing car leasing companies is he?

Seems like they wanted him out, but to me, that looks like a weak case (although I obviously have no legal expertise).

I hope no one has ever given the Birch a pair of trainers for his fun run!

 

[TommyK]

BBC Leicester commentator sacked after lodging Covid concern, tribunal told

Ian Stringer claims he was sacked by the BBC after blowing the whistle on an alleged flouting of Covid rules.

www.bbc.com

 

[popillius]

It's not like he's an elected official making laws on trainers and watches or reviewing car leasing companies is he?

Seems like they wanted him out, but to me, that looks like a weak case (although I obviously have no legal expertise).

I hope no one has ever given the Birch a pair of trainers for his fun run!

What he did was very clearly a breach if his employment contract. He was completely foolish. If all evidence given so far is correct, including his own, choosing to take this to an appeal will cost him a lot of cash and net him nothing.

 

[Fox Fan]

What he did was very clearly a breach if his employment contract. He was completely foolish. If all evidence given so far is correct, including his own, choosing to take this to an appeal will cost him a lot of cash and net him nothing.

How do you know what his employment contract said?

Had he of gone onto RL and said this week's commentary is sponsored by Total Motion, then fine, it's a clear breach, but as Gary Lineker has proven on several occasions, the BBC does not have authority over someone's twitter account and even if it did, surely these incidents could have been dealt with a written warning at worst.

 

[homer]

How do you know what his employment contract said?

Had he of gone onto RL and said this week's commentary is sponsored by Total Motion, then fine, it's a clear breach, but as Gary Lineker has proven on several occasions, the BBC does not have authority over someone's twitter account and even if it did, surely these incidents could have been dealt with a written warning at worst.

Lineker is not an employee - he can endorse what he wants and get paid handsomely for it

Stringer was an employee, and he was using his position to get freebies and using his Twitter account to promote the businesses who gave them to him

Hardly the crime of the century, and I can bet there are multiple examples in RL who are doing much worse - but I don't think he's got a leg to stand on here