A London bus driver was sacked after he chased down and knocked out a man who stole a passenger’s necklace.
Mark Hehir was lauded as a hero after the incident but received his marching orders after two years working for Metroline.
On June 25 2024, Mr Hehir was driving the 206 bus, which runs between Wembley and Maida Vale in north-west London.
A tribunal heard that a man boarded the bus before snatching a necklace from a female passenger from around her neck and running off.
Mr Hehir chased after the man and was able to get the necklace and return it to the female passenger.
The man then reappeared and threw “the first punch” at Mr Hehir, the tribunal was told.
The driver then responded by hitting the man once, a move that would render the individual unconscious.
The tribunal heard how Mr Hehir dragged the man to the pavement before restraining him for almost “half an hour”.
The driver lost his job
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PA
Both men were arrested following the incident, but Mr Hehir was later released and informed that no further police action would be taken.
The day after the incident, Mr Hehir was suspended from duty and instructed to attend an internal investigation.
At a disciplinary hearing, he was told the allegations against him included bringing the company into disrepute by physically assaulting a passenger, and failing to ensure the safety of himself and his passengers by leaving the bus unattended with the engine running while he chased another man.
Mr Hehir told the hearing that he had acted instinctively when he ran after the man, adding that he had left the doors open and applied the handbrake.
Shoppers cross in front of a London bus as it travels under Christmas lights on Oxford Street | GETTY
The hearing was shown an email containing a case review note from Detective Constable Waddington, which stated that Mr Hehir had used force that was proportionate and necessary in the circumstances to defend himself and a female passenger.
Mr Hehir said that when the man later returned to the bus, the female passenger was frightened, and he held the man on the ground because he feared the man might cause harm if allowed to stand.
He also told the hearing that public reaction to his actions had portrayed him as a “hero”.
However, the hearing questioned whether the man had returned to the bus to apologise and shake hands with both the female passenger and Mr Hehir, and who had initiated the physical confrontation.
Alina Gioroc, an operations manager who oversaw the disciplinary process, told the tribunal that she believed the man returned with the intention of apologising and shaking hands with the female passenger. She said that when the man attempted to shake Mr Hehir’s hand, Mr Hehir pushed him away instead of stepping back, and that the man had not shown aggression up to that point.
Ms Gioroc concluded that restraining the man for nearly half an hour amounted to an excessive and disproportionate use of force. She found all allegations proven and decided that Mr Hehir should be dismissed without notice for gross misconduct.
An employment tribunal in Watford upheld the dismissal, stating that the disciplinary and appeal managers’ genuine belief that Mr Hehir was guilty of gross misconduct was based on reasonable grounds and fell within the range of reasonable responses available to an employer in the circumstances.