A head chef convicted of GBH for biting and spitting blood at police officers has been awarded £11,000 for unfair dismissal - after he was sacked while in prison.

Stunned hotel bosses have to pay James Harvey after a tribunal ruled they were wrong for dismissing him after he was given 18 months in jail for the violent rampage.

The 37 year old from Deal was convicted of GBH in April last year after he bit two special constables in Guernsey and then spat the blood of his victims over other officers who attended.

He has now successfully claimed that the Fermain Valley Hotel company did not stick to the correct dismissal procedure, as they failed to notify him of their decision while he was incarcerated.

“It’s ridiculous. He has now in effect been paid by us for his time in prison. He has won just because of a technicality" - Tim Coates

Hotel bosses described the decision as "ridiculous" and said he has been rewarded for his crimes - despite not paying any compensation to his victims.

The tribunal found that the hotel in the Channel Islands, operated by Vista Hotels, had a potentially fair reason for dismissal, but that they had failed to undergo the proper procedure.

It was criticised for not carrying out its own investigation into the incident and for not interviewing Harvey in prison to get his version of events.

The hotel was also noted in the tribunal that Harvey was not formally notified until nearly six months after his arrest.

It claimed to have sent a letter to Harvey while he was in prison, but could not find a copy of it and the prison had no record of it.

After being ordered to give Harvey a payout of £11,156, Tim Coates, commercial director of Vista Hotels, said he was disgusted.

He said: “It’s ridiculous. He has now in effect been paid by us for his time in prison.

“He has won just because of a technicality. But he was convicted of a crime which constitutes going to prison for 18 months; you would have thought that constitutes gross misconduct.

"The nature of his criminal actions were so severe that it included multiple accounts of GBH and assault to local police, hotel staff, damage to property, resisting arrest and bringing the company into disrepute.

"This is not about money. If the tribunal should be minded to change their order, I will personally donate the sum of £11,000 to police headquarters"- Tim Coates

"The level of award clearly seems to reward the individual for gross misconduct, which is clearly unbalanced in its nature and displays little experience judgement.

"It is effectively rewarding a criminal."

Mr Coates said the company's main gripe was the amount of compensation they had to pay.

He said: "This is not about money. If the tribunal should be minded to change their order, I will personally donate the sum of £11,000 to police headquarters to pay the sums owed to the officers and to use the balance for the Christmas party, or a charity of their choice."

"But he hasn’t paid any of the compensation to his victims.

“The tribunal needs to be more subjective in their award for this sort of case; they need to assess their balance of what constitutes gross misconduct.

“Although we failed on a technical breach, the individual committed gross misconduct, under any normal circumstance.

“We are extremely disappointed. I’d like them to look at reducing the award to a level which complies with the law but does not remunerate intolerable behaviour.

“Common sense really should have been used."

Harvey, originally from Deal, Kent, took on the role of head chef at the Fermain Valley Hotel after working for a variety of kitchens at country hotels, luxury hotels The Felbridge, and The Gravetye Manor in East Grinstead.

He has also previously worked as a chef at the Montagu Arms in Beaulieu in the New Forest.

However his reputation came into disrepute when he became involved in a violent attack on March 9, 2014, following a boozy argument with his then girlfriend.

The initial incident occurred when Harvey had an argument with his then girlfriend after a couple of drinks.

A member of staff tried to intervene, and Harvey turned his aggression onto them.

After an altercation with the member of staff on the grounds of the hotel the police were called to the scene – and Harvey proceeded to violently attack them.

The attack left one of the officers with a broken finger, after Harvey tried to get up from the group while his teeth were will clamped around the special constables digit.

He bit another special constable on the leg, and then spit their blood over the other police officers who were trying to help.

The other officers were then forced to pull Harvey’s T-shirt over his face to stop him splitting blood at them.

The official tribunal ruling read: "The tribunal was persuaded that the complete absence of a disciplinary process with no right of appeal did not fall within the band of reasonable responses open to an employer in justifying the fairness of a summary dismissal on the grounds of gross misconduct for a first disciplinary offence.”

Harvey has so far been unavailable to comment.

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