A PRISON officer who left his job because he believed that the “soft” uniform of T-shirt and jogging bottoms undermined his authority has won the chance to pursue a claim for unfair dismissal.

Steve Brooks, 44, an experienced warder, said that he was forced to leave his job at Huntercombe Young Offender Institution because he was refused promotion unless he gave up his collar and tie. The new uniform, which became compulsory in May, is supposed to make officers less intimidating to juvenile offenders and put them at their ease. The tribunal in Reading, Berkshire, was told that Mr Brooks wore the traditional uniform of black tie and epaulettes when he joined the institution, near Henley-on-Thames, in 2002.

At first he complied when the prison governor ordered him to wear the casual blue polo shirt and jogging bottoms. But Mr Brooks, a burly, tattooed former prison guard with ten years’ experience in adult prisons, said he soon noticed that he was treated with less respect by the inmates. He reverted to wearing the collar and tie because he believed that it taught dangerous young offenders respect for authority.

Subsequently, he has alleged, he was barred from a “control and restraint” course, regarded as an essential precursor to promotion, because of his disobedience. Ten months later he resigned. Mr Brooks, who now lives in Crickhowell, Powys, said: “The main issue was that the proper uniform brings an air of authority.”

Paul Cadney, counsel for Mr Brooks, told the tribunal that barring his client from the course was a draconian policy. He said: “The means the management at Huntercombe adopted — of enforcing the uniform policy by effectively refusing promotion to officers who would otherwise achieve the necessary standard — is in breach of mutual trust and confidence.” Cecilia Ivimy, for the Prison Service, said there was no doubt that it was open to employers of this type to adopt a uniform for the proper care of vulnerable juvenile offenders.

She said: “It is completely hopeless for the claimant to say it was a breach of trust and confidence to expect him to comply with that policy.”

Andrew Matthews, the tribunal chairman, ruled that Mr Brooks had a case against the Prison Service and could pursue his claim for unfair dismissal. It is likely to go ahead in September.

Andrew Darkin, a member of the national executive of the Prison Officers’ Association, said that the new uniforms represented a misguided ideology pushed forward by those who wanted to “empathise” with violent young criminals. He said: “The ideology is, ‘Let’s help children, let’s not punish them’. We are talking about children who have done some heinous crimes — rape, armed robbery and attempted murder.”

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