Skip to main content
Legal news

Sacked for laughing on the phone

Jonathan Winston Jonathan Winston
1 min read

A police emergency calls handler is to appeal after being sacked for “laughing unprofessionally”.

Sue Heeney, who was working for Essex Police, was sacked following a call made in November last year by a man who thought a relative had been involved in a crash whilst drink driving. The man was nervous and Ms Heeney alleges that she tried to put him at ease and the pair laughed when the man could not remember the phonetic alphabet for the letter “E”.

She thought nothing more of the incident until informed that she was being suspended for a negligent and unprofessional manner, before being eventually sacked in July. The force said that, as well as laughing unprofessionally, she had graded the incident wrongly, stating it was a “road traffic incident – fail to stop” rather than the “suspicious circumstances” it turned out to be, especially so as the driver in the crash was later sent to prison.

Ms Heeney insisted that she had graded the incident correctly according to the facts she had been given which were minimal. A spokeswoman for the force said that: “The failure to properly assess the gravity of this incident led to her being investigated by the force’s professional standards department.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-call-handler-sacked-for-laughing-with-caller-8905990.html

Client feedback

Excellent response times, feel very supported by them, and give good, fair and impartial advice too when needed. Very professional.
Jessica
My Will was written during Wills Month via St Gemma's Hospice. The service was quick and efficient. I have only given 4 stars as there was an error in the original draft.
Anonymous
Found the process smooth and efficient. I was able to get information I required promptly and if not available immediately on the telephone then any messages left were replied to. Siddra Razaq and Tom McIlroy were responsible for the handling of my sale and I would certainly use them again.
Dianne
Monika in particular was very professional, efficient, friendly and helpful when drafting our wills
Brian
Very helpful and promptly anwsers emails as soon as.
Anonymous
Many of my family members have used Winstons Solicitors for their conyancing, over many years. I too have now used them and they did not disappoint. Samantha Robertson-Strong and Paulo Dos Santos were my main persons of contact. They were highly professional and very thorough, whilst maintaining an air of friendliness and approachability throughout. I cannot recommend them highly enough!
Mr T
Monika is extremely trustworthy, professional and experienced. Have very much felt in safe hands during a very difficult and stressful time of my life. Would highly recommend.
Zoe
Good Solicitors, helped couple times. Nice comunicion and people
Tadas
Contact Jonathan