Avon Fire and Rescue Service say they take allegations of homophobia 'very seriously'
Posted on 10/03/2007 11:51:14 AM PDT by Stoat
Four firefighters were reprimanded and heavily fined after disturbing an illegal outdoor gay sex romp - because the men accused them of being homophobic.
The crew was travelling past a notorious common popular with gay men and "doggers" when they shone their torches from the engine into bushes.
It is claimed they interrupted four men involved in a gay sex act.
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Avon Fire and Rescue Service say they take allegations of homophobia 'very seriously'
One man later contacted AIDS charity the Terrence Higgins Trust, which advised him to launch a formal complaint.
The firefighters were suspended on full pay during a three-month investigation. Two were fined up to £1,000, one was demoted in rank and the other given a written warning.
They have all been ordered to attend an equality course and the fines will be donated to the a nominated gay-rights charity.
One being mooted is the Jamaican Forum for Lesbians All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) although no final decision has been made.
Bristol has a large Jamaican community.
The four-man crew has also been transferred to other stations.
It is claimed the complainant had been pleasuring himself in front a group of three men when they were disturbed.
He is now said to be "happy" at the outcome of the disciplinary action but will not face a police investigation into what he and the other men were doing in the area.
The firefighters were charged with bringing their service into disrepute and with the misuse of fire equipment as their actions were deemed homophobic.
The firemen - formerly members of Avon Fire Service's Blue Watch at Avonmouth station in Bristol - stumbled upon the session near Circular Road on the Downs in Bristol.
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The firemen stumbled upon the session near Circular Road on the Downs, in Bristol.
They have been gagged by bosses and banned from talking - even with colleagues - about the incident, which happened at about 10.30pm on June 27.
One fireman said: "This is a complete farce. All four officers have been let down by their senior officers when they needed their support the most.
"They have been treated as the criminals in this case and it has been completely forgotten that they witnessed criminal activity occurring in a public place."
Another firefighter said: "The service needs to take a long hard look at how it has dealt with these allegations.
"There a lot of firefighters in Avon who feel the four involved have been treated very unfairly just so the service can be seen as being politically correct."
The men had been returning to Avonmouth Fire Station from Bristol's main Temple Fire Station, where they had been called in to cover for other firefighters answering 999 calls.
The four, who do not want be named, will be forced to attend a two-day equality conference being held in the Avon area next week.
Avon Fire and Rescue Service has invited delegates from around the world and firefighters from across the UK to attend the debate, entitled "Lesbians, Gays, Bi-sexuals and Transgender Equality in the Fire Service - an absolute taboo?"
Fire chiefs were alerted to the incident by the Terrance Higgins Trust, which has supported the man allegedly seen performing the sex act.
Simon Nelson, the charity's acting regional manager, said: "We don't support or condone sex in public places.
"We act as a third party for any member of the public who feels they have been intimidated or have been the victim of a hate crime or harassment.
"The member of the public simply wanted to know why the fire service was on the Downs at that time of day. We passed on that complaint.
"We work very closely with the police, but in this case the complainant asked us not to report this incident to the police."
The Fire Brigade Union represented the officers at their disciplinary hearing at Lansdown fire headquarters, which lasted for more than 12 hours.
Chris Jackson, a spokesman for the FBU's Avon branch, said: "The person who made the complaint was happy with the way it was dealt with.
"I am not at liberty to discuss more details about this incident or talk about the disciplinary proceedings."
The police confirmed they had not been made aware of the incident.
A spokesman for Avon and Somerset police said: "It is an offence to commit an act which is lewd, obscene or disgusting in a public place which is capable of outraging public decency.
"If any complaint is made in relation to such an incident it would be investigated thoroughly and, where appropriate, action would be taken to arrest any offender."
Chief Fire Officer with Avon Fire and Rescue Service Kevin Pearson said any allegations of racism or homophobia were taken very seriously.
He said: "There was no justifiable reason for that appliance to be in that location at that time.
"They should not have been there and there was no operational justification for their actions.
"We received a complaint about the behaviour of our staff and a full inquiry was conducted as a consequence.
"Since its completion we have gone back to the complainant and they are satisfied with the actions taken by Avon Fire and Rescue Service.
"Various people may have different views but the fact of the matter for us are we had a complaint, we investigated and the crew were found to be in breech of our internal policies.
"Our investigation revealed no evidence of criminal conduct by members of the public or our staff."
Mr Pearson said no final charity had been identified and donations had not yet been handed over as several were being considered.
No one from J-FLAG was available for comment.
So the charge is that the fire crew took a fire vehicle on a special, "let's go surprise some buggerers at that one spot" trip.
If that is true, then some punishment IS in order. Fire crews shouldn't take emergency equipment on such "missions."
But what if it's not true?
And, regardless, how about some punishment (a ticket?? at least??) for the lads in the spotlight? Weren't they breaking the law?
“I would tell them to stick their equality seminar in their sodomite loving backsides and quit.”
You don’t know their individual situations. They may have families to support, and I’m sure that at least some do. They may be in debt. They may need retirement benefits. Who knows?
Not necessarily....most fire pumpers will have an onboard water supply as well as being able to connect to a hydrant. The onboard tank is commonly 500 -1000 gallons.
Firemen doing their job.
This is how far PC has come in destroying sanity.
All PC does is reenforce the idea that the protected class is pathetic, and in this case the queers certainly fit the bill as losers.
It’s correct that this article said these firemen took their vehicle out for no reasons, and then found these four men. Why did they take the vehicle out? The charge that it was homophobia makes it sound like they took the vehicle out to look for and spotlight homosexuals. If that is the case, then they should be punished. You can’t have emergency equipment out-of-service because some guys are goofing off.
“The UK is a toilet. Really...so this where it’s headed until Islam grabs it by the reins eh?”
Exactly. UK is destroying itself while the head-choppers look happily on. When UK is sufficiently destroyed, the head-choppers will march in and do more than shine bloody lights on homosexuals!
Wait, the head-choppers are already there!
An apparatus known as The Water Cannon.
Do tell—we could all learn some good tips for duplicating your success.
Christian Europe is sliding fast. Get rid of God and this is what you can expect. A void must always be filled. And... the void will be filled with something... and that something will be radical Islam.
You know things are bad when the imminent future of Islamic rule that awaits the UK will actually be an improvement.
So the charge is that the fire crew took a fire vehicle on a special, "let's go surprise some buggerers at that one spot" trip.
If that is true, then some punishment IS in order. Fire crews shouldn't take emergency equipment on such "missions."
From the article:
"The firemen - formerly members of Avon Fire Service's Blue Watch at Avonmouth station in Bristol - stumbled upon the session near Circular Road on the Downs in Bristol."
and
"The men had been returning to Avonmouth Fire Station from Bristol's main Temple Fire Station, where they had been called in to cover for other firefighters answering 999 calls. "
By law they are required to investigate a matter that may involve a member of the public at risk. From the article's account, what it sounds like is that one of them spotted some movement in the bushes and they stopped to investigate. After all, it could have been an injured person and / or a crime victim who needed help. Why else should someone be in the bushes late at night? It's not a normal, legitimate place for an uncompromised person to be. To have seen that and then to continue on their way without investigating it would have been a gross dereliction of their duty.
But what if it's not true?
It appears that the complainants have admitted it to be true.
And, regardless, how about some punishment (a ticket?? at least??) for the lads in the spotlight? Weren't they breaking the law?
Yes they were breaking the law, and the article states that they will not be prosecuted. The reason why was not disclosed, but it is implied that it's because they were 'harassed' by these 'evil and homophobic' firemen.
My agency required all employees to attend a TWO DAY “diversity” course 12 - 13 years ago. What a farce. I had more fun ripping up the stupid, politically correct indoctrinated moron “instructor” as did quite a few of my peers. Two thousand employees X 16 hours = 32,000 man hours which equals about 600,000 to 700,000 dollars in wages, and bennies. That’s a conservative estimate. I’m guessing the other 90,000+ state employees also had to attend.
I believe that the firemen should have gotten a verbal or written reprimand for driving their engine where it didn’t need to go. End of story. What a weird country England has turned into.
Where in the article is this stated?
Why did they take the vehicle out?
From the article:
"The men had been returning to Avonmouth Fire Station from Bristol's main Temple Fire Station, where they had been called in to cover for other firefighters answering 999 calls. "
The charge that it was homophobia makes it sound like they took the vehicle out to look for and spotlight homosexuals. If that is the case, then they should be punished. You can’t have emergency equipment out-of-service because some guys are goofing off.
And there is no indication whatsoever that this occurred. From the article:
The firemen - formerly members of Avon Fire Service's Blue Watch at Avonmouth station in Bristol - stumbled upon the session near Circular Road on the Downs in Bristol.
Oh, those crazy brits, shining their “torches” to see the gay orgy better.
A pole?
I keep hoping that the chavs and soccer hooligans will have something to say about that, but if they haven’t really taken on the PC brigade yet, what hope is there that they will resist the islamists?
From the article:
"The men had been returning to Avonmouth Fire Station from Bristol's main Temple Fire Station, where they had been called in to cover for other firefighters answering 999 calls. "
and
The firemen - formerly members of Avon Fire Service's Blue Watch at Avonmouth station in Bristol - stumbled upon the session near Circular Road on the Downs in Bristol.
To have witnessed one or more persons in bushes late at night...who could have been injured crime victims or a person needing help....would have been gross dereliction of duty.
To have witnessed one or more persons in bushes late at night...who could have been injured crime victims or a person needing help....would have been gross dereliction of duty.
should be
To have witnessed one or more persons in bushes late at night...who could have been injured crime victims or a person needing help....and then continued on their way without investigating would have been gross dereliction of duty.
The men had been returning to Avonmouth Fire Station from Bristol's main Temple Fire Station, where they had been called in to cover for other firefighters answering 999 calls.
They were returning from another site.
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