A BROMSGROVE man who helped make Aston Martin cars has won a claim for unfair dismissal after being sacked for allegedly calling a colleague a 'black leg,' during a strike.

Matthew Randles, of Oak Apple Road, had been employed as a repair technician for six years by Aston Martin Bagonda Ltd at the firm's Banbury depot, a Birmingham Employment Tribunal was told.

But in September last year about 150 workers staged a strike on one day each week for several weeks over a working hours pay dispute.

Miss E Melvill, representing the firm, told the tribunal Mr Randles was alleged to have sent one of the workers who did not take part in the strike, a mobile text message accusing him of being a 'black leg.'

She said the message was offensive and provocative to someone who did not take part in the strike and the company's zero tolerance policy was breached.

She said: "Emotions were running high at the time. Mr Randles was part of a campaign for strike action."

Miss Melvill said Mr Randles was dismissed following disciplinary and appeal hearings.

"Dismissal was the only sanction - employers should have the right to take a stand against someone who intimidates others for not taking part in a strike," she said.

Miss Melvill said that if the tribunal found Mr Randles had been unfairly dismissed then an amount should be deducted from the award because he had contributed towards his dismissal.

Mr Randles told the tribunal he had been unfairly dismissed because he could not recall sending the message. He said the firm had been wrong to accuse him of being dishonest by claiming he could not recall the black leg accusation.

At one stage there was a discussion about the definition of the phrase ' black leg,' - slang for a non-striker. Mr Randles said the strike ended after a few weeks and the dispute resolved between the firm and the workers.

After a two-day hearing, tribunal chairman David Kearsley said the tribunal's decision was that Mr Randles had been unfairly dismissed.

The hearing was briefly adjourned after the firm agreed to make Mr Randles an offer in private. This was later confirmed by the tribunal without being told what the amount was.

The firm and Mr Randles declined to comment. Production on the famous car has since been transferred to Aston Martin's Gaydon depot.