A SECOND night porter at a Cookley block of luxury flats has won a compensation claim for unfair dismissal after being accused of tampering with a security system.

Michael Woodward, of Upton Road, Kidderminster, was awarded a total of £3,481 at Birmingham Employment Tribunal following his dismissal from Westley Court.

About 80 residents, aged 55 and over, had bought homes on the site, which had two night porters, Mr Woodward and Andrew Morris.

The tribunal was told CCTV cameras had been installed at the block - inside and out - with one camera concentrating on the reception desk where Mr Woodward sat and the door behind, leading to the office.

Mr Woodward, however, who worked from 8.30pm until 8.30am the next morning, regarded the camera as an intrusion and felt uncomfortable being looked at.

The management complained the camera was turned off and warned Mr Woodward about tampering with it.

Mr Woodward denied tampering with the "reception" camera following the warning but the management claimed he was observed tampering with another camera.

Mr Woodward said: "I was later dismissed for gross misconduct for tampering with the cameras. I believed this was unfair. I had been given no opportunity to state my case."

The management complained, however, that Mr Woodward had consistently ignored their instructions about handling the cameras.

Tribunal chairman, Ron Hutchinson, said there was no evidence to confirm Mr Woodward switched off the camera focused on the reception desk.

"The management's general manager, Keith Prince, was told by the directors to dismiss Mr Woodward but there was no reasonable investigation by the management and the statutory dismissal procedure was not carried out in the correct manner. We believe Mr Woodward was unfairly dismissed," he said.

"Because the dismissal procedure was not carried out in accordance with the Employment Act, we are increasing the award by a further 25 per cent, making the total £3,481."

Mr Woodward said afterwards he was pleased with the outcome.

The other night porter, Andrew Morris, had been awarded £11,619 at an earlier tribunal hearing after being sacked for allegedly tampering with the reception desk camera.

He had complained about being "spied on".