Chief executive of Victim Support NI dismissed

The head of Victim Support Northern Ireland Susan Reid has been dismissed from her post, it was confirmed yesterday.

Her solicitor Stephen Mearns disclosed that Ms Reid is to take a legal case for unfair dismissal and is seeking substantial damages.

Ms Reid was chief executive of Victim Support Northern Ireland (VSNI) for the past 10 years. The organisation is a charity which receives £2 million in funding from the Northern Executive. It provides practical and emotional support for people who are affected by crime.

Her actual dismissal happened a number of months ago but was only publicly confirmed yesterday following a report on the BBC that she had lost her job after staff complaints about her managerial style.

Mr Mearns said yesterday that Ms Reid would challenge her sacking. “From our instructions, the evidence in this case will show that our client’s dismissal was procedurally and substantively unfair in multiple respects,” he said.

“This gross unfairness pervaded the entirety of the disciplinary process. Our client denies all allegations and, on her behalf, we will be seeking substantial damages against VSNI,” he added.

Victim Support NI said an interim chief executive was appointed to the charity in mid-July last year. “Victim Support NI continues to deliver a full range of high quality services within budget and we look forward to continuing delivering our services to victims of crime throughout the region,” said a spokeswoman.

“We will not be making any further comment given that this decision may be open to legal challenge,” she added.

The organisation assists up to 30,000 people each year. It provides counselling, helps with compensation claims and delivers support for witnesses in criminal cases.