A redundant employee was cleared today (Fri) b

A redundant employee was cleared today (Fri) by an Old
Bailey jury of forcing his boss to hand over his back pay at
gunpoint.

John Tester, 43, was accused of robbing and blackmailing Mr
Alan Gibbs, but he told the court his former boss willingly
parted with the cash.

The prosection claimed Tester threatened to beat up Mr Gibbs
at his engineering company and later showed him a revolver in a
pub to enforce his demands.

Part of the prosecution case was that Tester later gave the
imitation gun to a woman friend and told her to throw it in a
lake, where it was later found by police.

But he told the court that she had made up the story out of
spite.

According to machinist Tester, Mr Gibbs initially offered
him pnds 90 for his last week’s work at recession hit engineer
ing company Amescross Ltd of East Grinstead.

He said he told his boss he ‘knew the law’ and asked for
pnds stlg 200 – his full weekly wage.

He told the court that Mr Gibbs, 49, had then agreed to pay
him in full.

He insisted that he had never threatened to ‘beat
him from one side of the workshop to the other,’ as had been al
leged.

He explained how Mr Gibbs had given him pnds stlg 15 to ‘tide
him over’ and promised to pay the rest later.

‘He said he would give me the pnds stlg 185 at a later date.

There was no question of any threats,’ Tester told the court.

Twelve days later the boss and his former worker met up by
chance in a pub in Dormans Land, nr E.

Grinstead, Sussex.

The prosecution claimed it was there Tester told Mr Gibbs
‘I’ve got a present for you’ and menacingly revealed a gun
tucked into his waistband.

But Tester said the allegations were nonsense and he had no
weapon of any kind on him and made no threats.

He said he merely asked for the the money that had been
promised, but was told by Mr Gibbs that he had nothing in his
wallet.

The former employee did not believe the boss and told him he
was desperate for the cash.

And Tester told the jury Mr Gibbs amicably agreed to go
outside the pub where he handed over the outstanding pnds stlg
185.

He said the imitation revolver was never in his possession
and the woman friend had it all the time.

Tester accused her of fabricating the story about him in
structing her to dispose of the gun.

He explained that she bore him a grudge and had thrown the

gun into the water of her own accord.

o73
The jury took less than an hour to clear him of two counts of
blackmail, two counts of robbery and two firearms offences com
mitted on September 6 and September 18 last year.

Outside court Mr Tester, of New Farthingdale, Dormans Land
said he was ‘very relieved’ that his ordeal was over and now
plans to start a training course.

ENDS