A senior official at the National Crime Agency (NCA) has lost an employment tribunal claim after being dismissed for accepting undeclared hospitality from a public relations firm. Charlie Edwards, who served as the NCA’s director of strategy, was dismissed following revelations that he attended a party at a West End burlesque club paid for by Freuds, a PR company contracted to support the agency’s tenth-anniversary events.

The employment tribunal hearing took place in south London and concluded that Edwards had committed gross misconduct by breaching the civil service code. Edwards challenged the dismissal, asserting that the hospitality he received was part of legitimate work-related activities. However, the judge rejected his claim of unfair dismissal, ruling the agency’s decision to terminate his £130,000-a-year employment was justified.

The tribunal heard that Edwards first met Julia Bainbridge, a Freuds representative, through a previous role at the Cabinet Office, which had awarded Freuds a contract in 2019. After Edwards joined the NCA in September 2021, Bainbridge invited him to Freuds+’s launch party in early 2022. Subsequently, Freuds+ won a contract worth up to £1.4 million to assist with the NCA’s tenth-anniversary celebrations beginning in March 2023.

One of the key incidents leading to Edwards’s dismissal was his attendance at an invitation-only party in April 2023 at the Lio burlesque club, organized by Freuds’ owner Matthew Freud. The event featured a cabaret-style show with artists, acrobats, singers, and burlesque dancers, followed by dancing. Edwards maintained that the event was a work function and that his presence was necessary to approve aspects of Freuds’ work for the NCA.

During the tribunal, Edwards acknowledged attending multiple meetings and lunches with Bainbridge, some paid for by Freuds and others self-funded. None of these meetings were formally registered with the NCA. The tribunal found that these interactions, combined with the failure to declare the hospitality, breached the standards expected of a senior civil servant.

Judge Paul Abbott characterized Edwards’s defense as unconvincing, stating that it was “extremely far-fetched” to consider the burlesque event as wholly work-related. The judge also noted that Edwards appeared not to fully accept that his conduct was inappropriate.

While the tribunal upheld Edwards’s dismissal as fair, it found procedural shortcomings regarding the notice period given before he was terminated. Compensation implications remain to be resolved.

Edwards, who has since joined the International Institute for Strategic Studies, expressed cautious satisfaction that the tribunal recognized a wrongful dismissal in terms of notice but accepted the overall outcome. The NCA emphasized its expectation of high ethical standards and confirmed its position that the dismissal was justified. Comments from Freuds were not immediately available.