Sacked bin man awaits court ruling

A BIN man suing council chiefs for unfair dismissal is waiting to find out whether he has won his case.

Paul French, 50, from Edinburgh, was axed from his job after he was accused of being the author of unflattering blog posts and letters to the Evening News under the alias Paul the bin man.

Edinburgh City Council sacked him for alleged gross misconduct, claiming he had breached its code of conduct and undermined the organisation during a controversial pay dispute.

During a two-day hearing he argued he had never been aware of the code and said he was being sexually discriminated against because his wife, who he says made similar posts, escaped unpunished.

He argued that his wife Janet, who also works for the council, wrote a letter to a newspaper expressing some of the same views as he did, but did not receive any kind of censorship.

He is claiming sex discrimination and unfair dismissal because he believes he was treated "unfavourably".

A written judgement will be sent to both parties in due course.