Former policewoman seeks compensation

A former police officer who has been on sick leave for eight years is to seek compensation from the force.

Alison Doyle is claiming disability discrimination against Northumbria police force as she says she was treated unfairly through her prolonged absence from work. Miss Doyle aggravated an existing back problem when she made an arrest which became violent in 2001. She says it made the injury unbearable and she never returned to work.

Now she is claiming compensation from the force for a failure to provide holiday pay, failure to pay expenses for travelling to medical appointments, failure to reinstate pay and failure to award a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal during her sick leave. The Northumbria Police have said that they will deny all claims. Miss Doyle has been granted a 30-day tribunal later in the year which will decide whether she is entitled to compensation.

She told a preliminary employment hearing in Newcastle that the force had not conformed to the Disability Discrimination Act adding: “I begged the force for help to get me back to duties but I believe they failed to do that. I did not want any of this and I’m upset that my career in policing is at an end. I feel that I was abandoned by the force.”

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