We are now in possession of Paul Turner from Skelmersdale side of the story kindly passed to us. Any confidential content will be removed and exchanged with xxxx such as names etc. We have published it ‘as is’ but please understand, if is FULL of bull, we will at some point put our comments within it.
This email was passed to us. Not from Richard who it was addressed to, but someone else who received it who I will not name.
Hi Richard, thanks for taking the time to respond to me and for letting me put my side of events across, although as I have explained these are not to be printed. These are for you only as I’m looking into legal advice on what I can do about Paul Ponting printing more lies about me and showing this to anyone else may hurt my case. Before I tackle the points raised in the article I would like to give a brief history of my role at Danoli and the events that led up to my dismissal. I was offered a 5 week contract with Danoli in October 2010 that would see me helping out as a computer engineer and shop assistant while a new manager found his feet within the company who had been poached from PC World by Paul. During these 5 weeks the new manager *name removed*was not what Paul had hoped for. I was started off on £6ph and this was increased the same day to £8ph as Paul said I was good in the role and a good engineer. After the 5 weeks was up I was due to leave for another job, Paul asked me to stay on and I would take *name removed* role and he would take my role, not as a manger but as a senior technician. I agreed and 2 weeks later Paul dismissed *name removed*. *name removed* had left PC World after 8 years and was finished after only a few weeks. Anyway I cracked on with my new role and over the weeks I spoke a lot to Paul before and after work sometimes at great length. I liked the ideas he had for the company, I liked the way he wanted to be better than the next guy down the road, offer a better and more honest service and he seemed genuine. I bought into this and threw myself in to my new role and wanted to help the business in any way I could. Over the next few months the business grew pretty quick, we had 2 more engineers, school and business contracts, selling more products and services and I had started to learn myself search engine optimisation and web development of a night and each morning ( I would get up about 4am to read up and practice my methods, I’m self-taught in most of my IT skills ). After a few months we had clients asking us about search engine optimisation ( SEO ), and Paul asked if I could do it for them. I said I could and we got our first client who was paying him £xxxxpm. Within a few weeks we had 3 more clients all paying about £xxxxpm. I was running all campaigns for them and helping increases there rankings and business while I was still learning and practicing all my methods at home because the industry is constantly changing it was difficult to keep up with what limited time I had but because I’m passionate about most things IT I loved what I was doing so felt I learnt quick. The problem was that as well as doing all this extra work outside of work I was still expected to do my IT support role and my SEO role together in Danoli. I would have customers phoning me asking how there campaigns were getting on or could I make edits to their website when I was not really able to do this role due to the sheer amount of work I would have on with the repairs or the shop being busy. I tried telling Paul that I was swamped and that I felt bad telling customers I was looking into things when I wasn’t able to. We were never allowed to be honest with customers and simply say we were swamped and it would be a week or two before I could look into their query. I would have to make excuses and as I was the only go-to guy with the SEO I was the one who looked bad. After several requests for help and constantly explaining to Paul that I was struggling I started to become very depressed. Over the next few weeks Paul and I had some arguments over work, jobs, customers, the way the business was going and so on. Paul can be difficult to speak with and if he thinks he is right he won’t back down at all or listen to reason. I eventually spoke with the Doctor who signed me off for a few weeks and put me on anti-depressants and medication to stop panic attacks. As soon as I was signed off Paul went on the offensive and started to accuse me of running a competing business ( I had a personal blog called iPab were I talked about SEO, Web Design, Internet Marketing and other things I was learning, no services were offered and I always referred to where I was employed even with backlinks ). He made screenshots and then started a disciplinary investigation into me, he accused me of taking steroids because I had told him that I had tried them several years ago, he also told my Mum and sister over the phone that I was taking them. This was all why I was on the sick. After 3 or 4 weeks I decided to meet Paul to have a chat. We ironed out our differences and I agreed to come back on lesser duties. He agreed that all the supposed charges against me were not relevant and apologised, no action was taken against me. Things went okay for a few months but the work started to pile up on me once again. I had customers hounding me for updates when I simply couldn’t give them. Sometimes I would not be able to do any work on their projects or websites for 4-5 weeks at a time ( they were paying over £xxxxpm all together, I know this wasn’t my concern but I was aware of what was being paid and what little work was being done for the money ). I hated lying to them but was never allowed to tell them that I had not done anything due to other duties. Then In April this year I was told by a friend that when I was off on the sick last October Paul had told one of our clients that I had had a nervous breakdown during that time.I confronted Paul about this and he stuttered and stammered through the meeting but eventually convinced me that he may have said something but it wouldn’t have been that. I was annoyed that my medical problems were even discussed at all but was happy to put it behind us and leave it at that. Paul refused and wanted to know who had told me. I said I couldn’t tell him as it was told in confidence, he got very mad and said if I didn’t tell him “it would be the worst mistake of my life”. I called him melodramatic and said I would not disclose the person’s name, this caused an argument which was ended by Paul telling me “ I cant work with you anymore “, I asked what this meant, am I sacked? He said no but he will talk with Anna. I was dismissed from the meeting and the next few days totally ignored by everyone. New polices were brought out directed at me ( I suffer bad allergies, my nose runs a lot and I need the blow it constantly, I know this may be annoying but during my time at Danoli had 2 operations to correct this but they failed, the new polices were that anyone who blows there nose must have their own bag next to them to dispose of them in a hygienic manner ). Other polices were that no work paid or unpaid was to be done what so ever with the services offered by Danoli. Paul knows I helped my best man and my uncle with a website for free to help their new businesses, the new policy said this could lead to disciplinary action. After 3 days of being blanked and made to feel like an outcast and even taking phone calls from solicitors offering legal employment advice to pass over to Paul I felt physically sick. I knocked on Pauls door and said I need to go home as I feel unwell. Any normal employer at this stage would ask why as we are so busy and what the problem was, Paul simply said “okay”. As I was walking out I knew then he was trying to get rid of me and push me out. As I reached the door to leave he came out and told me to leave my shop keys. I had worked there for almost 3 years and never had I been treated like that or asked to leave my keys, I knew then my suspicions were correct. I visited the Doctor that day who advised I have rest from work for the next 2 weeks and gave me a sick note. This was Friday the 12th of April. On the 14th of April ( the Sunday ), Danoli posted two jobs on the Job Centre website, one for a IT support Technician at £xxxxpa and the other for SEO & Web Development at £xxxx ( I have screenshots of these ). At that time I was supposedly still employed and this added further to the miserly I was having. All I had done was question what he had supposedly said about me, nothing more. Within a few days Paul notified me that he was conducting an investigation into me for gross misconduct. The charges varied and changed over the following weeks but finally settled on running a competing business, neglect of duties, defacing company property ( I drew on an employee’s envelope ), trying to establish myself as a business and other made up and petty charges. I refused meetings with Paul due to the depression and panic attacks I was suffering again but answered all questions through email and letter. Every charge he made I gave an honest answer, all my answers and explanations were dismissed. One of the accusations was my iPab website was a competing business and actively competing to generate customers. I also proved this was wrong, my site was listed as a personal blog, it told of where I was employed, and I was offered a potential lead through it when a lady contacted me for SEO, that very day I got the lead I emailed Paul and told him, I also forwarded the ladies details to Paul and he contacted her. He never got the job because she said his pricing was too high, I have the emails of Paul thanking me and saying he will “sot me out” if it came off, and yet during my investigation I was a competing business? It was all a way to get me out of the company because I would not tell him who had told me about what he had said. In the end I was dismissed as I knew I would be, Paul was true to his word saying it would be the worst mistake of my life. I lost me job and lost any chance of references. I also suffered because he contacted all 650 customers he had emails for explaining that I was under investigation for gross misconduct and that I may try to contact them “to bad moth the company”. What he meant by this was during our emails back and forth he was accusing me of not doing my duties, I explained I was doing the job of 2 people as it proved the day he put the jobs on the Job Centre website and was not always able to look at customers projects or websites as he had me doing other things. He said he had told the customers about me after one of their websites was hacked. I said if he is telling them lies about me I will be honest and tell them the truth, I will explain that the monthly contract they are paying him that sometimes I don’t even look at the sites for weeks on end. He then sent the email to all the customers. The Information Commissioner’s Office have confirmed that he did breach the privacy act with this but only advised him on future behaviour. I was sacked in May 2013. Once I was sacked he continued to contact me. I contacted the police and reported him for harassment. The officer who took my statement warned him over the phone and said Paul was very irate during the call. I was advised not to speak to him and if I had to do so do it through a solicitor. This has not been an option as I’m unemployed and can’t afford legal aid. During this time the gym I attend in Ormskirk had an anonymous email saying that a Police informant was training there, his name is Paul Turner and he is actively giving information to the local Police. I contacted the Police over this but without proof they did nothing. I then contacted Paul by phone as I thought he owed me a final payment, it turned out I was wrong but as most things do with Paul it turned in to an argument. He was shouting and so was I, I offered him the chance to come and meet me 3 or 4 times as he was shouting “big man, you’re a big man” down the phone trying to goad me. IN the end I slammed the phone down and that was that. He then emailed me saying I was clever not to call on the work phone as he could have recorded my “threats” he also said he had contacted the police. The police visited me a few days later and said I had supposedly threatened to kill his wife and children! Without any evidence I was also advised not to contact Paul and was issued the same harassment warning he had a few weeks earlier from me. These are not formal orders, I was told if either of us contacts one another then a formal charge is made. Anyone can make this first harassment warning and this does not go on anyone’s record as a charge. In June the gym I attend had another email this time from Paul Ponting himself saying he had been told from the police of this anonymous email they had had, he said it wasn’t him but the email was true and that I am in fact a Police informant, he went on to tell the gym that I had also threatening to kill his family, he also said that the gym owner can come down to the shop and Paul will show them the audio proof of me threatening to kill them. I have proof of both these emails. See links. Police informant. Threats To Kill All this was going on after I had left. I had no contact with anyone from Danoli but Paul was obsessed with me. I have logs from all my websites and he was visiting them several times a day. He has a static IP at home and work. Things had started to settle down and thought it was all over, I had signed a contract saying that I would not open a competing business in the area for 6 months but k new once that time was up I will try to compete with Paul, I know the area and IT is something I love. I also feel I can offer a more honest and transparent service to what he did. Anyway I knew Paul would target me again when I started up but thought it had all settled down. I was approached by a client of Pauls who had some SEO when I was there. She wasn’t happy with him and felt she was buying led on and had seen no improvement in there website or business. She asked if I could help them with the SEO I said I was not allowed to do any work in the area and couldn’t help. I was one of the people who convinced them to go with Danoli for the SEO, I convinced them it does work and that they would see improvements. Paul had kept taking there £xxxxm even though I had left and nobody was doing the job, I felt partly responsible and felt bad about their ordeal with Danoli and Paul. *name removed* contacted me on Facebook asking again if I could help them move website to a new host. I said I could but it would be unpaid. She said Paul was holding them to ransom for a website data dump as the one he had provided was corrupt. I said I would need admin access and there username and password for the website. She gave me this and I installed a plugin to do a database dump of the website. Once I had this I uploaded it to their new host then changed the nameservers. Once I thought it had all propagated I removed Paul as an Admin so he could no longer access their website on their new host and added myself. This was a mistake as the nameservers had not fully propagated and Paul seen this change. He shut the site down and contacted Sue and the police saying I had tried to hack it. Sue emailed him and told him it was authorised and it was her that had given me them. He did not answer her. The site fully propagated within a few hours and went online on their new host anyway but I decided to contact the Police myself to explain what was going on. I was invited to a voluntary interview and told my side of events. S** also contacted the Police and told them what had happened. She also sent a thorough letter to Paul explaining what had happened and the reason she asked me. Paul responded by saying I was a drug dealer, a gun runner, a thug, a Police informant for the crimes I had committed and also how I had threatened to kill his wife and children ( I have the emails from Paul and Sue, these were kindly supplied by S** who has stood by me through this ). S** has also signed an affidavit and has agreed to be a witness for me if needed. The case is still ongoing. Paul continues to tell everyone I hacked his systems. My 6 months are up and Im now allowed to compete for business in the local areas. When worked in SEO we try to help local companies in their local areas. One of the methods used is to add a local listing on Google. There are normally done by adding your business address. Many companies use virtual offices in different locations to get a listing in those areas. Others even use friend’s locations or offices as a mail forwarding service to help them with a local listing. This is what I did. The gym I attend, the owner who has also stood by me through the lies Paul has told said I could use his business address to secure a listing in the local area. I added this to my listings, Paul who constantly watches what I do online found out the very day it went live, he contacted the council, the landlord and Yell and had it removed. The gym owner was warned by his landlord as it was made to sound like a fake business. I removed it and apologised if I had caused any problems for him. Paul has had my listings removed two times already and I have only been operational a few weeks. Then last week I see this news report he has had done against me making these accusations and only giving his side of events. I have proof of all meetings, emails, the disciplinary emails, and emails from Sue, the Police and Paul. If anyone has suffered throughout all of this its me. I have lost my job, my £20,000pa salary, my good reputation that I worked very hard to build, friends from work, I’m now facing all sorts of obstacles when trying to build my new business venture, the constant lies against me, and because of what? Because Paul decided to tell somebody I had a nervous breakdown… I lost it all because I decided to question him about it and refused to tell him who told me… Does that sound fair to you? The one thing I have realised throughout all of this is the kind of person Paul is, this is my opinion and I encourage people to make their own, it’s not for me to tell the world what a bad person he is its best people make their own mind up, but I’m glad I have seen it and even though I’ve lost a lot and continue to struggle against him and his dirty tactics I still have the support of my family and friends. I will rebuild my reputation again and hopefully the Police will see that nothing malicious was meant when I helped Sue move her website. I can’t see Paul laying off me any time soon but I deal with that as and when it happens. As I said at the beginning this is not for anyone else, it’s for you only to read. I will be seeking legal advice on what to do about Paul and the article and will let you know the outcome of that. I just wanted to put my version of events across. Thanks Paul Turner