A Romford Sainsbury’s employee who worked for the supermarket for almost 20 years was sacked after he was found to have not paid for shopping bags.

Niamke Doffou was a staff member at the Romford Sainsbury’s store since February 2003 and was fired in October 2022 for “gross misconduct”, a tribunal report said.

His dismissal came after he was seen selecting the “zero bags” option on CCTV cameras but had taken multiple reusable bags for life.

Mr Doffou filed a claim of unfair dismissal with the Employment Tribunal, but it was dismissed in January for not being “well-founded” according to the judgement published this month.

The tribunal heard that on August 29, 2022, Mr Doffou did some personal shopping at the store early morning after working a night shift.

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He had bought some food, pillows and bedding for some visitors that cost around £30.

The report said CCTV footage and receipts showed that while Mr Doffou had paid for his shopping, he had failed to pay for multiple reusable bags for life on more than one trip by choosing the zero bags option.

In his defence, Mr Doffou claimed that he did not intend to steal the bags and insisted that he was tired and unaware of what he was doing when he took them without paying.

Mr Doffou had also faced a bereavement in July 2022, the report said, but the tribunal found he had not informed his employer or taken time off or explained that he was not able to work or concentrate.

A disciplinary investigation meeting was held by Sainsbury’s on September 10, 2022 when Mr Doffou was represented by a union member, the tribunal was told.

During this, the tribunal report said that Mr Doffou was shown the CCTV footage and he had accepted that he had taken the bags without paying, but claimed it was not on purpose.

At a disciplinary hearing on October 7 that year, Mr Doffou was again made aware of the allegations and that a dismissal was a potential outcome.

Sainsbury's concluded that Mr Doffou had not acted in error but had been dishonest and had deliberately taken the bags assuming they were low value items and did not matter.

The tribunal upheld the supermarket’s decision to fire Mr Doffou on the basis that Sainsbury’s genuinely believed that Mr Doffou was guilty of theft.

Employment Judge Misra KC wrote: “The CCTV footage and receipt clearly proved to the respondent (Sainsbury’s) that the claimant (Mr Doffou) took bags for life without paying for them.

“The key thing was to understand why he did so and that was achieved by allowing him every opportunity to explain his admitted actions.

“I do not find that any of the criticisms made by counsel for the claimant, who said all she could in this regard, of the respondent (Sainsbury’s), either singly or cumulatively rendered the dismissal unfair."