Stressed worker wins record payment

A record damages payout of £203,000 was made today to a former gypsy site warden forced to retire from work because of stress.

Father of four Randy Ingram, who lives in a caravan himself, blamed his employers for undermining his job, which led to a series of physical and verbal assaults on him by gypsies.

He was shot at and suffered other abuse, forcing him to retire from his £8,700-a-year job on grounds of ill-health in 1997.

He has never worked since and now has to attend hospital twice a week for therapy and takes up to 17 tablets a day.

Mr Ingram managed gypsy sites for Wychavon district council for two years until the work was transferred to Hereford and Worcester county council in 1995.

He took over responsibility for other sites, including one at Lower Heath, near Kidderminster, which had a history of problems.

Wardens accused the county council of failing to support their work, leading to a loss of their authority on the sites.

At a press conference in Birmingham, where the out-of-court settlement was agreed, Mr Ingram said: "I liked the job I did but the support wasn't there from my employers.

"I am part of the gypsy community, I have always lived in a caravan and I shall not be changing my lifestyle.

"The council has a lot to answer for, they have made me very ill with stress and depression and my home life has suffered as a result."

Peter Fennell, regional officer of Mr Ingram's union, Unison, said that when steps were taken to evict anti-social families from sites, or refuse entry to other known troublemakers, the decisions taken by the wardens were over-ruled by council managers.

"The council appeared to take the side of the gypsies. They were not prepared to take sufficient strong action against the troublesome families. This was very difficult for the wardens."

Mr Fennell said that of the ten wardens employed by the council, seven had been off work with stress and one had left permanently on ill health grounds, receiving a compensation payment of £14,500. Dave Prentis, deputy general secretary of Unison, said the case was one of the most extreme examples of stress the union had dealt with.

Chris Carter, head of planning at Worcestershire county council, which dealt with the claim as a result of local government changes, said procedures had been improved since the authority was formed two years ago, and more support was now given to gypsy liaison staff.

Today's settlement was the third high-profile stress case brought by Unison.

In 1994, social worker John Walker was awarded an out-of-court settlement of £175,000 against Northumberland County Council and last year housing officer Beverley Lancaster was awarded damages of around £65,000 by a judge after Birmingham City admitted liability for personal injury caused by stress.

• Recent figures showed that unions took 783 legal cases against employers for stress-related illness last year, 70% up on the previous 12 months.