A convicted paedophile fired from his job with Lambeth Council after he was charged with sexual abuse has tried to sue the local authority for damages claiming he was wrongly dismissed.
Jason Hoyte, 38, who was found guilty at Inner London Crown Court on November 6 of sexually abusing six girls, one as young as four, over a 20 year period, was looking for damages in a case of unfair dismissal. His case, heard at an employment tribunal in Croydon on last Monday was rejected by the tribunal judge.
A family member branded Hoyte’s decision to take court action as “unbelievably arrogant” and “an insult to his victims”.
When charged with the sexual offences last October, musician Hoyte was sacked by Lambeth from his position as a centre development assistant based in the council’s library service. He was found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child relating to teenage girls he groomed while also working as a youth worker on a council-funded scheme in West Norwood.
The assaults, as well as 14 counts of indecent assault that took place when Hoyte was a teenager, were on girls he had met by befriending their parents at churches in West Norwood, Upper Norwood and Brixton. But despite his convictions, the former youth worker still pursued Lambeth for unfair dismissal.
His relative, who did not want to be named, said: “It shows he is still in denial of what he has done. It is as if he still feels society owes him something, but he is a convicted paedophile. To have the arrogance to do this tells you what kind of a person he is.”
Lambeth Council chose not to comment on Hoyte’s decision to go to a tribunal but a spokesman said the council was “confident of the grounds under which Jason Hoyte’s employment was terminated” and “clearly the employment tribunal was of the same view”. Hoyte, who was not represented at the hearing, did not appear because he is in custody awaiting sentencing.
A formal written judgement from the tribunal judge is expected in the next six weeks. Gipsy Hill councillor Graham Pycock, who has criticised the council for not doing more to detect Hoyte’s abuse of children, called his application for wrongful dismissal “outrageous”. He added: “He lived a charmed life with the council and because of that treatment he still feels he can run rings around them.”
Coun Pycock has continued to demand why Lambeth Council did not actively seek to check Hoyte’s CRB status when his youth organisation was given a grant by the council.
The musician had faced charges of indecent assault from 1989 which were dropped against him but could have showed up in an advanced CRB check.
A council spokesman said the council had “strict and robust policies in place to protect children and young people” and Hoyte had worked with children through a privately run organisation which provided youth services within West Norwood.
Source: O3 Newsletter
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