Recep Turhan at his new restaurant, Jack The Chipper, in Whitechapel

A FORMER chip shop manager who was photographed exposing himself to a resident who had complained about his parking in Camden Town was unfairly dismissed by his employers, a judge has ruled.

Recep Turhan, 52, was sacked from his position at the Camden Town branch of Poppies in September 2020.

A resident, identified only as “Mr Jones” at an employment tribunal, had taken umbrage at perceived lenience from council parking officials towards Poppies staff.

He then pursued workers including Mr Turhan, taking photographs of alleged rule-breaking.

Mr Turhan responded to one incident in 2016 by pulling down his trousers and exposing his penis to the complainant.

The photo was then put onto a leaflet and superimposed in front of the branch in Hawley Crescent.

It was headlined, “Exposed: Poppies’ Mini Flasher”, and sent to Mr Turhan’s bosses.

The tribunal was told that it was four years later that the owner of Poppies, Ural Hassan, called him in without notice and sacked him.

He was found by Judge Bernard Hodgson not to have given Mr Turhan prior knowledge of the issue, nor was there an adequate investigation, and Mr Turhan was not able to bring someone to the meeting to support him.

He was also never informed of a right to appeal. The tribunal judgment on January 7 ruled that he had been wrongly and unfairly dismissed. A later hearing will determine outstanding holiday pay.

Mr Turhan had worked at the company for a decade and still has 25 per cent shares in it.

Speaking to the New Journal at his new restaurant, Jack the Chipper in Whitechapel, Mr Turhan said: “I made a mistake. I’m human, you make mistakes no matter what job you do, whether you’re president or prime minister, or work where I do. Only God makes no mistakes.”

He added: “You get those days where you’re stressed. You’ve got problems, whether it’s family problems, money problems, bank problems. That day [on which he exposed himself] was a bad day. That’s why I made that mistake. “The guy had taken 1,000 photos of me and I’d had enough. Of course I regret it.”

But he said he was “shocked” to be called in nearly half a decade later and told he was being dismissed.

“I was thinking, ‘What? How? I don’t understand?’ I spent my life, nearly 10 years, I looked after this business like it was my baby,” said Mr Turhan.

“I spent my time there, building it up, I didn’t see my family, my daughter, my son. I don’t get how it was so easy for him to say, ‘You’re out’.”

According to the tribunal, heard at courts in Kingsway, Holborn, Mr Turhan shrugged when confronted with the allegations.

Poppies in Camden Town

In his 17-page judgment, Judge Hodgson said: “When an allegation is, essentially, raised at the disciplinary hearing itself, it is not surprising that the explanation is limited.”

He found that Mr Hassan’s investigation into the image was “inadequate”, saying “it was not one open to a reasonable employer acting reasonably”.

Judge Hodgson said there were “serious shortcomings” in the procedure, adding: “The action of the claimant in showing his penis was possibly a fundamental breach of contract, although this is far from certain.”

Mr Turhan will be back in court next month as he tries to sell his stake in the company. He has since opened two restaurants with a business partner. “I just want to take my money and come out, so I can move on,” he said.

In a statement, Poppies Camden said: “We are disappointed with the employment tribunal decision and are reviewing appeal options. Recep Turhan was dismissed for gross misconduct after the photograph was discovered of him ‘flashing’ outside our family-run establishment.

“We believe it to be a criminal offence and took immediate steps to dismiss his inexcusable and unlawful behaviour.”