West Bromwich bank raid victim misses job-loss claim deadline

Co-op bank's decision to sack Rebecca Maxam was described as 'shoddy' by a judge at Birmingham Crown Court when he jailed the six men involved in the raid.

However the 30-year-old's case against her old employer was thrown out before it even got off the ground by a judge in Birmingham yesterday.

Under the Employment Rights Act, workers have three months to lodge an appeal but Miss Maxam chose to wait until the end of the criminal trial relating to the robbery.

Speaking after the case, Miss Maxam said: "I am really upset and gutted. Distraught. I should have done it earlier.

"I am so angry with Co-op. It is a disgrace. They put their own workers at risk. They never took this seriously."

The tribunal at Centre City Tower in Birmingham heard Miss Maxam started working for the company in 2009 but was sacked in July 2012 after the robbery.

The trial of the men involved heard how she was thrown to the floor and then stamped on as the robbers raided the High Street bank's safe. However almost £40,000 ended up blowing in the wind after one of the raiders dropped the money as he fled.

Miss Maxam had tried to stop them entering as she and a colleague opened up but the court heard she was overwhelmed by 'bigger men'. She suffered psychological distress and was signed off work for six months and later dismissed on grounds of gross misconduct.

Miss Maxam, who is now working for a loan company in Bromsgrove, accepted not following exact procedure when opening the bank, but claims they were under-staffed.

Speaking after making his decision yesterday, Judge CJ Goodier said he sympathised with Miss Maxam but said he had no choice but to throw out her claim.

"The time limit for bringing claims of unfair dismissal has to be within three months unless not reasonably practicable," he said.