A delivery driver who worked for an approved Amazon delivery
provider, Fast Despatch Transport Ltd, has lost his job having been the victim
of a robbery which saw the robber drive off in his delivery van containing more
than 60 Amazon parcels.
The amount of parcels out for delivery post-Boxing Day sales
may have been the premeditated target by the assailant, when he forced the
delivery driver, Martyn Gilham, to the ground as he
delivered the parcels to the website's customers in Coventry, West Midlands on
28 December.
But if going through the ordeal of
a robbery wasn’t enough, following the incident Martyn received a text from his
boss stating that they did not want to use his services anymore and, in
essence, he was fired, there and then.
Initially his employer ludicrously
stated that his wages would be deducted to the amount of damage that occurred
to the van and for the value of the parcels inside! A spokesperson for Fast
Despatch Transport Ltd has since come out and said that “that the driver will
not be charged the cost of the stolen parcels” – sanity restored.
However, as per company policy,
and as is “clearly explained to drivers when they start work”, “when drivers
leave Fast Despatch Transport they are paid all money owed to them after a
short time period which allows us to calculate outstanding amounts due, such as
repair of any damage to the vehicle”.
The employer may need a sharp
reminder that the delivery driver was the victim of the robbery, not the
perpetrator. Any damage caused to the vehicle was caused following and as a
result of its illegal possession by the robber. Victim surcharge and costs in
relation to the van is surely a matter for the criminal proceedings that will
inevitably go ahead when/if the assailant is caught.
One would assume that it is not
the responsibility of the driver, who lost possession of the van once the
robbery took place, to subsidise the actions of another which were totally out
of his control whilst he was lay (potentially for dead) on the pavement.
I guess we’ll have to hold our
breath and hope common sense takes over on this one…
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