FAMILY Nursing and Home Care have admitted that the way they sacked a staff member was ‘imperfect’ but have blamed their mistakes on the political pressure they say they were under to reinstate her.

They told an Employment Tribunal yesterday that they came under pressure from four States Members, which hampered their ability to run a fair disciplinary procedure against information governance officer Christine Brennan.

Family Nursing representative June Summers-Shaw told the tribunal that Deputy Collin Egré – whose son Dominique, they claim, had an affair with Mrs Brennan – Deputy Roy Le Hérissier and former Deputy Geoffrey Grime had made phone calls to their chairman.

And they also claim that pressure was exerted by Senator Wendy Kinnard – a former employer of Mrs Brennan as a researcher and a family friend of the Egrés.

Senator Kinnard was president of the Home Affairs Committee – of which Deputy Egré was also a member – which gave money to Family Nursing through a fund dedicated to accident prevention.

Mrs Summers-Shaw said the States Members wanted to set up an ‘independent’ review of the disciplinary situation and that Senator Kinnard and Deputy Egré tried to represent Mrs Brennan at her disciplinary hearing.

Family Nursing refused to allow them to do so – breaking the rules they themselves had laid down for the hearings, according to Mrs Brennan’s representative, Wing Commander Stella Gardiner.