Custody officer job withdrawn for GC beliefs - Gribbon (SP legal team) is his solicitor

[InterrobangsArePureBias]

I wonder how many more of such actions will be launched. To adapt Jimmy Doyle’s phrase, “the spectacle of this nation’s [lanyard classes] enforcing moral auto-lobotomy as a condition of entry to [employment]”.

A prison custody officer who was sacked for saying he would not address male-born transgender inmates as ‘she’ or ‘her’ has launched legal action against one of the UK’s largest security firms.
Army veteran David Toshack, 50, was dismissed by GEOAmey during a training course only days before taking up a role as a prison custody officer (PCO) at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
The father of three told a safeguarding workshop that he would not be comfortable using a transgender inmates’ preferred gender pronouns and expressed his belief that a man could not become a woman.
It sparked a horrified reaction from bosses at the firm, which employs thousands of justice workers across the UK, who said his views were against the law and company policy.
…
He said: ‘I’m just a normal, working class person who’s never been in trouble with the law before, not got a criminal record, lived a good life. I’ve been prepared to go and fight and die for my country, and then I have come back here and been told that there’s certain things you can’t think or can’t say.’

https://archive.is/bxjqC

Original story about David Toshack in Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14963309/Prison-custody-officer-sacked-refusing-call-male-born-trans-prisoners-her.html

From TT

DH - now moving on to your employment with GA, it was your training course, it was a Holiday Inn, were you put up in the hotel
DT - yes, it was residential
DH - a hire car was provided?
DT - yes
DH - other people on the course
DT - yes, 10/12 people, equal number male female

Thank you!

😊

From TT

DH - did you go to visit a prison
DT - we went for restraint training, met up with another cohort
DH - there was someone you met - Stephen Weir (?) in your cohort
DT - no met up at restraint training.
DH - who was your supervisor?
DT - Chris Hutton who was leading training

DH - so what is this document
DT - it's like a workbook to mark progress, what did you do in that week, a wee bit about how you did.
DH - the I in ITC is 'Initial Training Course' to correct myself, now we've got a list of documents, handouts, starter packs, during the training

From TT

you were provided with a lot of material and equipment as well. Dates are dates you were provided and your signature?
DT - yes, those are the dates and my signature
DH - to give an overview of what was happening during the six weeks; training module sign off, various names

I think she is counting the break to fix the sound issues.

Well, he seems very sensible and clear. Good for him and all power to his elbow. Will be very interesting to see what defence is offered…

Instructions to request remote viewing

Email

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PUBLIC ACCESS REQUEST- 27/1/26 8001392/2025 Mr D G Toshack - GEOAmey Limited Bellshill

Then ask for the link and pin for remote viewing.

I emailed for access code and have just received it back within the hour. Fantastic admin edinburgh courts :-)

From TT

and dates, also signed, this is essentially giving us the headline titles of the various classes or modules you were undertaking.
DT - yes
DH - there are handouts referred to here, the 'personal escort handbook' given to you,
DT - correct
DH - and do we see if you look at

module - IMD 8, 'Equality and Diversity' that was done in November 2024,
DT - yes
DH - modules on prisoner welfare care plans, and personal escort records, both in early December
DT - yes.
DH - that's all I wanted to draw from that.

It's interesting that they looked at his SM after they sacked him. It's almost like remembering a "patient safety incident" after suspending a nurse 🙃

From TT

DH - I want to ask you about some documents after that, a course evaluation form - this is your evaluation of how you found the course, week by week, were these discussed with you
DT - I thought this was just for our own reflections, didn't happen every week, but we would sit

From TT

down at the end of the week with the trainers, informally and have a wee chat with them.

DH - referring to interviews by trainers with attendees, to get their views and any concerns
DT - yes
DH - two names here, Shelly and Chris Hutton, who fills those boxes in

DT - I think that's CH's signature,
DH - 2 signature yours and his
DT - yes
DH - so you say this didn't happen every week
DT - the chat maybe not, but we turned in our folders every Friday and then would get them back on Monday.
DH - we see no issues or concerns raised by you

From TT

or CH in these documents week 1, and then week 2, another person, but no issues or concerns, consistent with your recollection
DT - yes
J - were you going home at the weekend or staying
DT - going home
DH - week 3, no issues, consistent with your assessment

Or raking back through a WhatsApp chat in order to find something - anything - with which to discredit a nurse…

From TT

DT - consistent with my recollection but not my signature,
DH - may have been a week when it was handed in
DT - yes, no problem with that
DH - no issues week 4, consistent with your recollection
DT - absolutely
DH - week 5, trainers, John Campbell, Shelly, Lee, no issues or

A**e covering!

From TT

concerns stated, consistent with your recollection
DT - yes
DH - we will come to week 6 in time, but I want to wind back to the start of the course, do you recollect there being any discussion of matters such as DEI,
DT - there was a distinct recollection that it was raised on

London Rules, as anyone who has watched/read Slow Horses will know…

Indeed! I wonder whether he's also considered a "racist" for daring to mention grooming gangs.

I entirely agree with his description of DEI, it being about exclusion rather than inclusion.

From TT

the first day of the course.

DH - was this whole cohort ?
DT - just the group in the Holiday Inn in Kilbride
DH - who brought up DEI
DT - CH, he asked 'what is DEI', no one put their hand up so I waited and then spoke. I told him I didn't agree with DEI, it was coming from a

good place but wasn't about diversity it was about conformity, if you didn't agree with it you would be punished, not promoted, it was about characteristics not competence,
DH - what did CH say
DT - he said I agree with some of what you say, it's gone too far in some areas

From TT

DH - did he raise any concerns
DT - not that I recall
DH - what happened next
DT - he asked the question again,
DH - did anyone else express views
DT - I've found this before, once one person speaks up others will do so, another student named Ian said literally 'what he said'

From TT

DH - what was the tone of this discussion
DT - no clash, open exchange of ideas
DH - was more time spent on exploring these matters at that stage
DT - nothing else that stuck in my mind, nothing else significant
DH - other things that you were doing on Day 1, there were other

things you recall?
DT - no, getting measured up for uniforms, getting kit etc.
DH - I'm trying to go week by week, if can't recall specific point in time, I can rephrase the question
DT - nods
DH - anything else in week 1 about equality or protected characteristics (PCs)

From TT

DT - not that I recall
DH - lots of practical stuff in week 1
DT - yes, handcuffing, working with prisoners
DH - anything in week 2
DT - what I recall about week 2, we were in the prison, learning about restraint and prisoner handling

From TT

DH - did the issue of trans come up in Week 2?
DT - I don't remember if it was Week 2 or Week 3 but there were some specific conversations about it.
DH - what was the first one you remember
DT - trainers told stories about notorious cases, about one trans prisoner who bit their