A former senior firefighter has denied snatching and throwing a disabled blogger’s phone away, saying there is “no evidence” he did so.
John Linden, who claims he was unfairly dismissed by the Norfolk Fire Service over the incident, has defended his actions at an employment tribunal this week.
The former station manager in the Lynn area told a panel of three judges he had no recollection of intentionally throwing Jimmy Evans’ phone over a hedge during an altercation.
He instead believes he may have deflected the object away from him in response to a sudden movement by Mr Evans, who shares videos on YouTube under the name ‘Wheelz Media’.
A video of the incident in June 2023, which was published by the Lynn News and can be viewed here, was shown to the tribunal as a key part of evidence for Mr Linden’s case, who was sacked after 32 years of service.
The blogger got into an altercation with Mr Linden after approaching the scene of a fire at Harding’s Pit in South Lynn and refusing to move back away from the smoke.
Mr Evans can be heard shouting, “Get off my phone”, before Mr Linden is seen walking away and raising his arm over his head, seemingly to throw something.
However, the camera, which was attached to his wheelchair buggy, does not capture an object flying through the air.
The video was key to Mr Linden’s dismissal, but he believes the evidence is inconclusive.
He also claims his PTSD diagnosis led him to act in a heightened manner when reacting to Mr Evans swinging his arm towards him.
But Gus Baker, a solicitor representing Norfolk Fire Service, argued that anyone watching the video would find Mr Linden’s version of events “incredible and incapable of belief.”
“You snatched his phone while he was responding to you,” Mr Baker claimed.
Mr Linden, together with two other firefighters, searched for Mr Evans’s phone but were unable to find it, and he was paid compensation for the lost device.
Mr Evans, who uses a mobility buggy, describes his online blogging company as “auditing done on wheels”.
The tribunal heard that Mr Evans, who is not giving evidence at the hearing, was known to be confrontational prior to the incident involving Mr Linden in 2023.
A second video was shared to the panel of judges, in which Mr Evans attempts to reach the scene of a fire at the Sainsbury’s on the Hardwick industrial estate.
Mr Evans refused to leave the area after being asked to do so by police officers and could be heard saying: “I’ll go wherever I want to go. I’ll do what I want when I want.
“I don’t care about the frigging old bill. When will you learn I don’t care about your authority?”
The tribunal also heard that Mr Evans had previously made aggressive phone calls to fire service staff at a Lynn station.
Mr Linden told the judges that he had not received any de-escalation training to help react to situations involving aggressive members of the public.
However, Mr Baker argued that dealing with people at the scene of an incident would be a “basic part of the job” for a firefighter of his experience.
The tribunal at Norwich Magistrates’ Court continues.
