An ex-Swindon Greyhound employee has been awarded a settlement in the thousands after claims he was sacked for whistleblowing on the organisation.

Former deputy racing manager Kiaran O’Brien said that concerns he’d raised about possible race-fixing at the Abbey Stadium, as well as issues brought up over the welfare of greyhounds, led to his dismissal from the company.

Gaming International, who manage the Blunsdon dog racing track, argued that Mr O’Brien lost the job he’d had for over a year in July 2020 because of an ongoing personal dispute between him and the racing manager Clive Oseman, and not because of his whistleblowing.

An employment tribunal dismissed O’Brien’s case of ‘automatically unfair dismissal for making a protected disclosure’, but upheld his claims of ‘detriment at work for making a protected disclosure’, ruling he should be paid £16,867.07 in compensation.

During the tribunal, which issued its findings earlier this month following a hearing in Bristol in March, O’Brien stated that on June 10, 2020, he had raised concerns over a staff member's erratic driving of the mechanical hare which he alleged was to favour a local trainer with a family link to them. 

A separate issue raised by O’Brien on June 13 involved concerns he had over the welfare of a dog he felt shouldn’t be racing. These were overruled by Oseman despite his multiple protestations and consequently, the dog in question, Newinn Buddy, ran in a race and crashed into two other greyhounds, severely injuring one of them.

The injured dog later had to have a leg amputated.

Both incidents were shown to have caused tension between O’Brien and Oseman, with the latter leading to a furious row between the two in the steward’s box following the event - resulting in Oseman calling his deputy a "f****** c***".

Both parties wrote complaints to general manager Peter Geeves, with whom O’Brien had also previously shared his frequent concerns, and following intervention from Geeves and Steven Hayward, finance director, the decision was made to dismiss O’Brien.

Judge Eoin Fowell, who heard the case, found Mr O’Brien’s story to be “detailed, coherent and plausible” while Gaming International’s evidence “seemed to gloss over these concerns”, choosing instead to focus on the breakdown in the relationship between Oseman and O’Brien.

"He was expected to carry on as normal despite being roundly abused by his manager," the judge said.

He later concluded that O’Brien had suffered several detriments during his employment because of his whistleblowing which included being subject to abusive behaviour, having his opinions rejected and having his grievance ignored.

But he said that he could not conclude that O'Brien was sacked because of the disclosures.

A spokesperson from Gaming International said: "I cannot comment further on this matter as it is the subject of ongoing legal proceedings other than to advise that all matters relating to greyhound racing at Swindon Stadium raised by Mr O’Brien in the Employment Tribunal have been at the time they first came to our attention, the subject of thorough enquiry by the sports governing body, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB). 

"We have always and will continue to cooperate fully and openly will all enquiries made by the GBGB into the conduct of greyhound racing at this stadium. We are rightly proud of our reputation for high levels of integrity and welfare over the past 30 years."

A spokesperson for the Greyhound Board of Great Britain said: “The health and safety of greyhounds is paramount within licensed greyhound racing and through our Rules of Racing, we seek to uphold the very highest standards of welfare and integrity at all times.

"Where we receive any complaints about potential rule breaches, these are taken very seriously and considered by our disciplinary authority who will take the appropriate action in light of the evidence.” 

The sport's governing body added that it did receive a series of complaints from Mr O'Brien between December 2019 and August 2020, which were investigated. 

It says only two of them had corroborating evidence relating to individuals and not greyhound welfare. Disciplinary action was then taken as a result of that evidence. 

The board continued that O'Brien did not have evidence to support the allegations of race-fixing and GBGB couldn't establish any breaches of rules. 

Insufficient evidence was also found to support the welfare concern regarding the grading of dogs and no further action was needed.

GBGB maintained that if new evidence came to light it would investigate that fully.