BBC man's free car leases were 'blatantly wrong'

An arrangement in which the BBC’s Leicester City reporter got free leases on a BMW and an Audi were “blatantly wrong”, a tribunal heard.

Mr Stringer was hired by BBC Leicester in 2008 and sacked in 2022 for what the BBC says was misconduct.

An employment tribunal in Leicester is hearing Mr Stringer’s claims that he was unfairly dismissed.

Mark Moran, who made the decision to fire Mr Stringer, said the journalist should have disclosed the car leases.

The tribunal was told how Mr Stringer received the cars from the Leicester-based car firm Total Motion during a period of about three years.

The free leases came about because Mr Stringer was a close personal friend of one of the directors of the company, who has since died.

Mr Stringer maintains the cars were leased to him without contingencies or any suggestion of a quid pro quo.

But Mr Moran said not disclosing the leases as a personal interest “was so blatantly wrong”.

“The fact somebody has, for whatever reason, been given the use of two very nice cars over a long period of time and didn’t declare it or have a conversation with their manager about is just wrong.”

Mr Stringer claims an investigation into his use of social media, in which he mentioned Total Motion and a number of other companies that provided him with free goods in connection with charitable work he was doing, only started after he blew the whistle about a suspected Covid rule breach.

Mr Stringer told the tribunal that in July 2021 the then station editor Kamlesh Purohit had “instructed” one of the team to come into work despite them being “pinged” by the Covid app – something the tribunal was told was “a breach of Covid rules”.

Roy Magara, for Mr Stringer, said the investigation into Mr Stringer was “part and parcel of a harassment and bullying campaign against him” and had been orchestrated in response to his making a protected disclosure.

Jesse Crozier, for the BBC, has told the tribunal the two matters were deliberately dealt with separately and by people outside of BBC Leicester.

The employment tribunal heard Mr Stringer was given impartiality training in 2013 and an anti-bribery course in 2020

During the hearing Adam Smyth, the BBC’s appeal hearing manager who agreed with Mr Moran’s decision, was shown a tweet featuring Mr Stringer standing with boxer Tyson Fury at a Total Motion-branded event.

“This is clearly one of those events that would cause an issue because of the relationship between Ian Stringer and Total Motion,” Mr Smith said.

While Mr Stringer maintains he repeatedly sought training on impartiality, Mr Smith said he was given impartiality training in 2013 and an anti-bribery course in 2020.

“Even if he was doing all of these things innocently, to have failed to take responsibility and agency and to have familiarised himself with the rules and policies… it is really not acceptable conduct.”

The case continues.