The Suffolk Hyde Affair - Doc 102 ADO Graham Saward

NOTE FOR FILE
Supplied to Firefighter Hyde 13th April 1999

On Tuesday 19 January I spoke to T/L Ff. Hyde regarding his temporary promotion.

I told him that the circumstances had changed since he was promoted in that the period of absence of L Ff. Brown was now expected to continue for some months.

In such cases my policy was to share the temporary promotion among personnel on the station, particularly those assessed as suitable for promotion, and therefore, I intended to reduce him to his substantive rank of Firefighter, with effect from Monday 1 February.

T/L Ff. Hyde became abusive and said that I couldn’t do that to him as he had a letter from ADO Fuller which said that he was promoted until L Ff. Brown returned to full operational duties.

I was aware of the memorandum and had taken advice before proceeding with my proposal.
He asked who was behind this, who had told me to do it. I told him that it was my decision, made purely on the grounds of equality and fairness.

He went on to say that I had picked on the wrong one and I had better be careful because he would come after me and he would win.

I warned him to moderate his attitude and informed him that I would confirm my intention to him in writing, which I did in a memorandum, dated 20 January.

This document was undated and without any independent verification as to when it was drafted or Affidavit provided by the author. As to who the author is, well it is presumed to be T/ADO Graham Saward. It was first observed by Firefighter Hyde on 13th April 1999.