A security officer from the Shotley peninsula has revealed the real reason why she pursued a sex discrimination claim against a former boss after winning more than £10,000 in compensation.

Former Britain's Got Talent contestant Peta Jessemey took Lodge Services to tribunal after her boss, former Royal Military Policeman Rod Tolmie forced her to quit her job as a security officer in Superdrug in Colchester.

A judge ruled against Lodge Services for unfair dismissal, harassment and direct sex discrimination after hearing a string of complaints about Tolmie, including him referring to Ms Jessemey as 'honey', talked over her and made a number of other decisions against her based on her gender.

Ms Jessemey was awarded £10,096 after an industrial tribunal found in her favour but she told Nub News she was more interested in stopping something similar happening again than the money, no matter how tough the process was.

"There were times when I considered giving up," Ms Jessemey said. "My Unite union rep was unsupportive while I was with Lodge, the union solicitor did not see a profit for them in taking my case forward when I resigned.

"I felt I had to carry on because I wasn't just doing it for me, I was doing it to stop anyone else from going through what I had endured.

"I have since had loads of lovely messages and that has meant more to me than the money."

Tolmie, who now works for Colchester Borough Council as an enforcement manager was described by a judge as having a dismissive attitude towards Ms Jessemey because she was a woman.

In his summary, Employment Judge Martin Warren said: 'Mr Tolmie's behaviour towards her could accurately be described as bullying and belittling.

'Addressing women as 'honey' is patronising, demeaning and degrading. Mr Tolmie did not address men as 'honey'.

'All the instances of talking over others in the evidence, albeit much of that hearsay, are in relation to conversations with women.

'Mr Tolmie's tendency was to talk over women and have less regard to what they had to say.

'Repeatedly questioning whether a male security guard is to be preferred is related to gender.

'It was clear from Mr Tolmie's evidence, cutting through some of his very long and rambling answers, that his attitude was that female security officers, be they store detectives or security guards, were more vulnerable than their male colleagues.'

The judge added: 'Mr Tolmie's explanation for using the term 'honey' is that he is from Northern Ireland and ex-military police.

'Neither of those are an excuse, or an acceptable one.

'Mr Tolmie's explanation for querying whether or not a male security guard would be better was rambling and evasive. It left us with the impression that he had a negative attitude toward women working in security.'

Superdrug said in a statement: "We are aware of the recent settlement between the external security provider, Lodge Services, and a security guard who was employed by this third party supplier. Superdrug has not worked with Lodge services since 2016."

The case has rumbled on since the first hearing in January 2014 with the final decision published by the tribunal services in Bury St Edmunds earlier this month.

Problems first arise when Lodge Services won the contract to run security at Superdrug, where Ms Jessemey already worked.

She said: "When working for Stealth Security I found them to be very professional. They are a smaller security company but always looked after their employees whilst meeting their client's needs

"I was always paid correctly, never left out of pocket when travelling for work and was allowed to book and take holiday. If an unpleasant incident occurred due to the nature of my work they were always very supportive and checked that I was ok. I felt like a valued member of the team. This was a stark contrast to the situation I found myself in after the TUPE transfer to Lodge and working for Mr Tolmie."

Peta won through a round of auditions at the Excel stadium to sing in front of the judges, Britain Got Talent judges, then including David Hasselhoff,

Peta told Nub News: "I still sing all the time, at the moment it's mostly in the car, doing the washing up, etc. Before virusmageddon I would sing with family and friends and occasionally join in with music and charity events at The Wheatsheaf, a fantastic pub."

List of allegations against Tolmie which the tribunal found in Ms Jessemey's favour.

"a) Mr Tolmie calling her "Honey" repeatedly when he spoke to her in person of on the phone;

c) Mr Tolmie commenting on "another assault on a female officer" dismissively around February 2013;

d) Mr Tolmie failing to deal with a male colleague of the claimant about whom concerns had been raised around November 2012;

f) Mr Tolmie refusing the claimant holiday to attend her brother's wedding in September and insisting she swap her shifts;

h) Mr Tolmie's dismissive attitude to the claimant at a performance meeting around March 2014, stating that she lacked relevant skills and was ambitious;

1. A list of issues is a case management tool. As the EAT has a number of times reminded us, we must decide a claimant's pleaded case. We have noted that missing from the above list are matters referred to in the claim form, namely that:

k) After Miss Jessemey had raised a grievance, Mr Tolmie had gone to client stores and encouraged managers to ask for a male security guard rather than a detective and to do away with her.