A Selby man who was sacked for "fighting" at work has won a claim for unfair dismissal against his previous employer.

Owen Dixon, 48, was dismissed from his post at Unitrition International Ltd, in Barlby Road, after an altercation with workmate Wayne Cappleman, who was also sacked.

Mr Dixon, of Courtneys, Selby, had worked for the company as a technical shift operator for 29 years and had a good work record, a Leeds employment tribunal heard. It was said that the two men fell out over "personal matters".

Mr Dixon claimed that Mr Cappleman had been sending him "unpleasant" phone and text messages. Matters came to a head on November 21 last year when Mr Dixon alleged he had been assaulted by Mr Cappleman.

The attack involved several hard blows to the side of the head and being punched in the face, according to Mr Dixon. Mr Cappleman said he had not thrown any punches. He claimed Mr Dixon had accused him of theft and threatened him with a file, which Mr Dixon denied.

The tribunal heard that Unitrition's operations manager, Anthony Rowley, and general manager, Brian Edmunds, had received conflicting reports of the incident. Jonathan Ashworth, representing Mr Dixon, said his client remained consistent with his story that he was the victim of an unprovoked attack.

He said that Mr Cappleman was first recorded as stating that he had "stuck one on" Mr Dixon, but later claimed he had just pushed him. Mr Ashworth said it was "simply incredible" that Mr Rowley and Mr Edmunds, who had chaired the internal hearings, managed to ignore these material differences.

Ben Daniel, for Unitrition, said that neither of the men's accounts was consistent and company managers reached a decision fully supportable by evidence.

Tribunal chairman David Sneath ruled that Unitrition did not have reasonable grounds to believe Mr Dixon had threatened his colleague, in the light of inconsistencies in Mr Cappleman's statements. Speaking after the hearing, Mr Dixon said it was like having "a weight lifted off my shoulders". All parties will reconvene on August 6 to discuss compensation for Mr Dixon, who has secured a new job.

Updated: 13:05 Saturday, July 12, 2003