High-roller's £20,000 bets credit costs Sarah her job

Sarah Parkinson allowed her wealthy regular gambler to make five bets within an hour totalling £20,000 without ever receiving the stake money.

The deputy manager at a Rotherham branch of William Hill told an employment tribunal that she understood she had to “treat the customer as if he was royalty” to keep him betting.

But the tribunal panel ruled that the betting giant had a “substantial reason” to sack Miss Parkinson and dismissed her claim of unfair dismissal.

The tribunal heard that the big-spending punter, referred to only as “Carrot Top” or “Paddy” at the hearing, was given free drinks, parking and a hotline to staff at the bookies in Wickersley.

Miss Parkinson (24) said that her area manager and staff at another branch had given her the impression the punter should be treated differently to other customers.

“We had to keep him in the shop, keep him happy and give him basically whatever he wanted,” she said.

But her generosity backfired when the man, in his late twenties who ran a business importing fuels, failed to fund the bets and Hills lost £20,000.

Miss Parkinson was suspended and later fired for gross misconduct. Company rules state that all bets must be paid before races start.

Miss Parkinson, from Dinnington, who had four years’ service, claimed unfair dismissal and sex discrimination, saying that she was sacked because she was going on maternity leave.

She said two other women managers at another branch were only given warnings after they too gave credit bets to the same punter—although in their cases he came up with the cash before the races set off.

But district operations manager Steven Archer said that Miss Parkinson was sacked not because she was pregnant but because she allowed “Paddy” credit bets on August 7 last year of £20,000 that was never recovered.

The tribunal heard that “Paddy” once brought in £47,000 in notes to bet with and a member of staff counted it out.

On occasions when his cash ran out he would phone his bank and she had no reason to doubt he would come up with the money.

Miss Parkinson, who gave birth to her son Joe last November, accepted that  she had “done wrong” but said she did not think of it as credit betting.

She said “Paddy” had later that day sent a cheque for £20,000 with a friend and she put it in the safe with his bank card. It was never cashed and the punter’s bank account was later frozen after police began investigating his affairs.

Afterwards Miss Parkinson said: “It stinks that a big company can get away with something like this.”

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