VICTORY

IT was the news that the four sacked Hampshire firemen thought they'd never hear.

On a dreary day in a small courtroom in London, a judge reinstated the four friends to the job they love - and cleared their names.

Barry Kearley, Richard Thoroughgood, Bernie Ross and Steve Dunbar have fought for five years against allegations of bullying and harassment.

The four men, who between them had 67 years service with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS), regarded the offences they were accused of as simply good humoured banter and hi-jinx, a way of coping with the tragedies they encountered day to day.

It was in April 1999 when the four colleagues, together with a fifth man, were suspended from duty. Their belongings were thrown into black bin bags, they were marched from the station where they were based and banned from speaking to any of their workmates.

It wasn't until nine months later that charges of insubordination were finally laid against each of them.

Many of the allegations centred on sending people to Coventry, stepping out of line during parade, squirting people with water jets, having dirty shoes and sleeping in while on night-duty.

After internal hearings and an appeal four of the five were eventually ordered to resign, or they would be sacked. In January 2001 they lost their jobs.

Last June Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who has overall control of discipline within the country's fire brigades, ruled the men should never have been sacked.

But Hampshire fire chiefs pressed on with their case and is thought to be the first fire brigade to challenge a ruling made by the government.

But yesterday Mr Justice Elias, presiding over the one-day Judicial Review at the High Court, criticised HFRS for acting outside their powers.

After telling the four men they would get their jobs back immediately and be paid their salaries from the past three years since they were dismissed - thought to top £280,000 in total - he told the county's fire brigade representatives: "The Fire Service is frustrating the will of Parliament."

For the best part of an hour late yesterday afternoon, the men, their partners and supporters patiently sat in oak-clad court three as Mr Justice Elias announced his findings.

HFRS was told it would also have to pick up the tab for the cost of a day at the High Court - expected to be in the region of £40,000.

As the news sunk in, tearfully the men celebrated the victory.

Mr Kearley, 41, who now runs a carpet cleaning business, said: "Look around and see the emotion. We didn't expect this. We didn't know how far it was going to go.

"When you've been knocked back for the past five years you can't presume anything. There has been trauma and grief for everyone involved and our lives have been on hold. Now we can't contain our happiness that we've finally got the right result."

Mr Thoroughgood, 31, from Marchwood, who now has an office job, said: "I just can't believe it. The result is the one we all wanted. I am just glad to see that at last justice has prevailed."

Retired Mr Ross, 52, now a postman in north Hampshire, said: "I feel shattered at the moment but a weight has lifted off my shoulders and we have justice at last.

"I have suffered depression for the past two years and this has almost destroyed my life and came close to destroying my family. What happened wasn't fair and wasn't justified. It has been an extremely difficult five years."

Mr Dunbar, 45, who runs a window cleaning company in his home town of Basingstoke, added: "I am relieved that this is finally over. The fire brigade has to realise now that bully boy tactics don't work. What needs to be answered now is how much has this cost taxpayers in Hampshire when from the start the brigade didn't have a case?"

Despite calls from the Daily Echo last night, chairman of the fire authority Michael Cartwright, the man charged with holding the purse strings of the county's fire brigade, refused to make any comment on the outcome.

Bosses at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service were also refusing to make any statement until they had time to meet together and discuss the findings. No serving officers, including the Chief Fire Officer Malcolm Eastwood, who announced his retirement last month, had attended the court.

Today, union chiefs say it's time that questions were answered, claiming that there had been a five year witch-hunt to get rid of the four men - who were all active union representatives based at Basingstoke station - at whatever the cost.

Lud Ramsey, vice-chairman of Hampshire Fire Brigade Union, said: "The fire authority has a lot of explaining to do. The amount of money that has been spent on this case is frightening - it's astronomical.

"When you think about the amount of officers' time spent going around the county, collecting statements, speaking to witnesses, bringing in officers from other brigades to sit on the panels, delivering notices to the firemen who had been suspended, giving evidence at hearings and fighting appeals, not to mention the legal bill, it's just staggering.

"You could easily be looking at a figure of around £2 million. But because it's not coming out of their own pockets, but that of the county's - the taxpayers' pockets - they don't care and they ploughed on with the case.

"This should have been sorted out at a local level right at the beginning. They were trying to get rid of these guys and they have been very stubborn about this right from the start. They wanted to get rid of them at whatever cost and it cost them a lot of money, yet they still lost.

"We are delighted with the result and glad to see an end to this finally. We hope that Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service can now move forward."

Roy Goring, press spokesman for the FBU added: "What we want to know is why the fire brigade wasted so much money continuing to pursue a case that was obviously lost quite some time ago.

How much more of the public's money are they going to waste on this?

"This has always been the concern of the Fire Brigade Union in Hampshire as they are wasting our money as well as the taxpayer's."

The legal team representing HFRS was yesterday refused the chance to appeal Mr Justice Elias' decision.

Speaking after the outcome, brigade lawyer Richard Jones, QC, said: "Obviously the fire service is rather upset by this ruling. It acted in good faith and feels hard done by."

Mr Jones added that the brigade would consider going to the Court of Appeal in a last ditch attempt to win their case.

Today the three firefighters are still undecided about when, if ever, they will return to work.

Mr Kearley said: "We are still waiting for apologies from the fire service. We have a huge amount of issues to deal with and it's clear that they don't wish to employ us. I don't know if I could go back."

Mr Dunbar added: "Before any of us go anywhere near the brigade we need to sit round a table and thrash things out." He said he felt some people in the division should now be disciplined."