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.
Thank you designer. You have your heard screwed on right.
Cheers man.
“”It was the British newspapers who said people were leaving England at the rate of 100,000 per year, not me.””
The Brits have ALWAYS been movers. That’s why we had the Empire. Nowadays it’s very easy (especially in the EU) to move and roam around at will.
The fact is, 1 out of every 3 people who leave the UK return.
The main factor is that house prices in England are very high. The average person can sell their house for 500,000$ and live like kings abroad.
Thousands of people leave many countries each year. Don’t believe me? How many people from all sorts of countries bang on the doors of the U.S each year? They aren’t all coming from England LOL.
How many Americans leave the U.S each year? Have you any idea how many abandon the U.S and move to Canada for example?????
“”It was the British newspapers who were complaining of the “nanny state” and it was the British newspapers who brought out that the only people left were street gangs, Islamofacists and others .... “””
Yes well if I were to believe the ‘newspapers’ I would think that all U.S students are about to get their bloody heads blown off by gun wielding nut jobs as soon as they sit down for class every morning. Is that the truth or not? Course it bloody isn’t.
“””I also suggest you start reading on-line British papers such as: The Sun,””
The Sun? Are you serious? It’s a comic mate. I’m from Liverpool. We don’t read The Sun here. It’s boycotted. It’s famous for lies and bullsh!t. People only read The Sun for a laugh and for the tits on page 3.
“””The London Times, The Manchester Guardian, etc.””
Again, I laugh at your examples.
“”So before you go off railing at other people, get your own facts straight first .....””
Er I know the facts. I live here. You don’t. This country is great. It’s not falling apart nor is it near finished. It’s still 92% white for crying out loud with only 3% muslims. If you read some sensationalistic newspaper articles you would think England is half brown with mosques everywhere and being swamped by muzzies. Meanwhile in the REAL England it ain’t nowhere near like that. Go outside London and a couple of northern cities and that’s the REAL England. I live in the REAL England.
America has a FAR bigger problem with illegal Hispanic immigrants and a cultuire that is neglecting English as the first language and bringing in alll kinds of alien diseases.
America will be a Spanish speaking 3rd world country long before England is ‘finished’.
Good day sir.
That’s missus to you ..... and thank you for your rant .... typical ...
BTW -
Britons Buckle Under Modern Life
Updated: 13:37, Thursday October 04, 2007
British people are buckling under the strain of modern life.
It’s all too much
It’s all too much
One in 10 people describes themselves as constantly at boiling point while a fifth start feeling stressed before breakfast.
A poll for the Relaxation for Living Institute found British people spend a total of five and a half years of their adult life feeling strung out and tense.
Just over half of the population struggles to sleep at night, while one in two has headaches or migraines, 23% have digestive problems and 17% suffer panic attacks.
Two thirds of people admit they now regularly feel at the end of their tether and unable to cope, and 12% said they constantly feel at boiling point.
Almost half, 42%, said they spend at least an eighth of the day feeling stressed out and on average, people are anxious for more than two hours a day.
Advertisement
The survey found that the biggest strain on people was money worries and financial uncertainty, followed by work pressures and relationships.
Another major cause of stress was the pressure to look good and people’s self-image, with 45% of women and 24% of men citing it as a cause of anxiety.
People appear not to know where to turn when they feel stressed, with just under 30% admitting they resort to alcohol and the same number using coffee as a crutch.
Wandsworth GP Roger Schofield said: “It’s no good us doctors telling patients to go home and relax because most people don’t know how to.
“Sticking on a pan-pipes CD probably won’t have the necessary effect.
“Learning how to manage the physical effects of stress through exercise and breathing is one of the keys to coping and feeling better every day.”
The overwhelming majority of people - 71% - believe living in the UK is more stressful than living abroad and 85% believe life is harder now than it was 50 years ago.
Regards,
Jane
Not even radical Islam... Even just moderate Islam would’ve sentenced the 4 in the bushes to 7000 lashes each. :-) Not such a bad idea...
“””That’s missus to you ..... and thank you for your rant .... typical ...”””
Rant? LOL, what I find highly amusing is some foreigner like yourself having the misguided views that newspapers like The Sun are a bastion of truth.
You couldn’t be more wrong. The Sun has been sued numerous times. Perhaps the most famous case of The Sun printing lies and bullcrap would be the Hillsborough football disaster.
Google it. The Sun was boycotted in Liverpool and even today still suffers as a result.
“”
Britons Buckle Under Modern Life
Updated: 13:37, Thursday October 04, 2007
British people are buckling under the strain of modern life..........””
Eh I think that’s almost universal. The same would apply to America.
That’s also why people MIGRATE around the world.
Perhaps you think only Brits emigrate and nobody else does????
LOL.
Here you go Jane. You wouldn’t know this living in America but here are some interesting tidbits about The Sun newspaper and the filth and lies this rag has spread:
http://media.guardian.co.uk/thesun/story/0,12950,1255937,00.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/liverpool/2004/07/295149.html
http://www.kirkbytimes.co.uk/news_items/boycott_sun.html
I guess that depends on the configuration of the vehicle. All our engines had a 500 gallon tank on board.
Unless you mean cigarettes, no.
Not after the moose-limbs are done with them.
Ok, to be fair I will .....
I know there are people here who are unhappy - then they go overseas, and then come back .... we may not be the best in some areas but why is it the whole world wants to come here ... our illegal border crossers now number over 12 million ...
Ok - as my Aussie friend says “no wurries” - that’s why I also quoted other British newspapers .... The Guardian I’ve seen to be very anti-American ... but The Sun gives me a good laugh ...
Cheers,
Jane
Ok Jane fair enough. I apologise if I was harsh to you. It just riles me all the Brit bashing that goes on here. Britain is America’s NUMBER ONE ally yet a lot of people sem to take delight in sticking the boot into Britain.
Every country has it’s share of problems. I guess I should be flattered that so many Americans take an interest in some of the problems Britain might have whereas they couldn’t give a damn about most other countries and they don’t even bother to talk about them. I guess that’s a kind of ‘plus’.
Cheers.
“”I know there are people here who are unhappy - then they go overseas, and then come back ....””
Yes same with the U.K. One in three people return. This year a friend of mine moved to Australia....then returned 6 months later becuase Australia wasn’t what she though and she didn’t like it.
Most of the people leaving Britain them simply go to France or Spain or elsewhere because they can sell their British houses at very high prices and buy one for a fraction of the cost abroad and live better......the same reason hundreds of thousands of Americans retire to Mexico, so they can live cheaper and more well off.
And as I have said, the British (living on a small island) have always been movers and migrants seeking out what is on the other side of the ocean. That’s how the Empire began. It’s in our nature to move and explore. It’s no different to what Brits have been doing for centuries. It’s no NEW news. We’ve been moving abroad in our hundreds of thousands for hundreds of years.
“”we may not be the best in some areas but why is it the whole world wants to come here ... our illegal border crossers now number over 12 million ...””
I could say the same here. It seems that everybody and his dog is trying to get into Britain so we can’t be that bad. I live in a lovely, peaceful part of the country with little crime, little multi culturalism (which you only really get in the big cities) and few problems in general. This is the real England. The biggest problem I face is the high cost of housing. I don’t run the gauntlet of street gangs or muslim extremists everywhere.
Thanks for reading.
I just finished reading a history book on “The Battle of Brittan” Hugh Dowding was a genius ... wasn’t for him who knows what might have happened .... England was the aircraft carrier to Europe for our B17’s and your Lancaster’s ....
When asked by the Queen then to an American volunteer fighter pilot why he was there he answered “Because there always has to be a Brittan” ....
You’ve a great country there mate ....
Regards,
Jane
I just finished reading a history book on “The Battle of Brittan” Hugh Dowding was a genius ... wasn’t for him who knows what might have happened .... England was the aircraft carrier to Europe for our B17’s and your Lancaster’s ....
When asked by the Queen then to an American volunteer fighter pilot why he was there he answered “Because there always has to be a Brittan” ....
You’ve a great country there mate ....
Regards,
Jane
ps - keep misspelling Britain ....sorry but it seems my spell check didn’t pick it up ....
Not only that, had Germany won the Battle of Britain and then successfully knocked Britain out of the war then all of Europe, the eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and North Africa would have been under total Axis control. It’s then likely also that other countries like Spain and Turkey would have joined in. The Axis would have had no threat to their western front (America would have had to stay out of it)and could have focused all their attentions on the Soviet Union. With no Brits defending North Africa and the Mediterranean it’s likely the oilfields of the Middle East would have been taken as well as another (southern) route into Russia on top of more men and equipment for the Russian front.
Barbarossa would have likely succeeded, the Soviets would have been defeated, or at least sued for peace, and the Axis would likely still be in control today.
WW2 ‘hinged’ on the outcome of the Battle Of Britain and German attemps to knock out Britain. The fact that Germany did not defeat Britain meant that a two front war would ensue. Obviously, the Soviet Union bore the brunt of the bloodshed and sacrifices but without Britain (and the Commonwealth)fighting in the west and then the U.S.A joining the fray from late 1942 there is no way the Soviets would have won on their own.
“”You’ve a great country there mate ....
Regards,
Jane””
Thank you. You too. I have lots of American friends.
No worse than the goings-on in Frisco and many other “progressive” controlled zones here in the States.
Could this be why we are losing our country to Mexican illegals? Say what you will about them, I am pretty sure they wouldn’t put up with this kind of surreal nonsense.
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