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one train A worker has been sacked after first class passengers received sausage rolls taken from bins.
Peter Duffy is an employee of London North Eastern Railway (LNER)Accused of preparing sausage rolls “taken from bins” for first class passengers and then served by a colleague.
The incident was reported by another train conductor who overheard laughter coming from the kitchen before service and later noticed the bins were empty despite being told earlier that there were no sausage rolls as they had been thrown away.
Mr Duffy claimed he “went too far for customers”.
Mr Duffy and a train conductor were working on a train departing from LNER on 7 May 2023 Yorkwhen two passengers in first class requested sausage rolls.
The colleague who reported the concern said: “A standard cabin owner and I were getting food in the galley when the owner who was cooking told us that the sausage roll had just gone in the bin.”
Later, the worker reported hearing “a lot of laughter” in the kitchen where Duffy and his colleagues were sitting, before alerting them that a passenger was sitting nearby.
They added: “A few minutes later a sausage roll was presented to Coach K by a host in first class.
“After finishing my meal I was throwing the rubbish into the kitchen bin and that’s when I noticed the bin was empty and there were no sausage rolls in the bin.”
The staff member claimed Mr Duffy removed food from a bin, plated it and reheated it.
His colleagues in the kitchen allegedly then served food to first-class customers.
Mr Duffy was told CCTV footage had been retrieved which appeared to show him retrieving food that had been discarded in a bin in the presence of colleagues.
Mr Duffy then plated and reheated the food before it was served to customers by his colleagues, the video shows.
Both men have been suspended by the train company pending an investigation into alleged breaches of food hygiene standards.
At an inquiry meeting on May 17, 2023, Mr Duffy said he was “a man who went out of his way to serve his customers”.
“I obviously took them out because there were no more people in first class, but they were all wrapped in foil,” he said.
“We’re completely maxed out and I’ve gone too far with my customers.”
He said he suffered from anxiety and depression, was on medication and had a stressful job, but added: “I’m just trying to do the best for my customers, that’s what I’m known for.”
A union representative who attended the inquest said Mr Duffy “was suffering from a recognized condition known as transient global amnesia that day”.
Transient global amnesia is a sudden, temporary disruption of short-term memory.
Mr Duffy’s colleagues denied seeing him take the sausage roll out of the bin and said they were laughing because she let it slip, but the court found her evidence unreliable as it was likely selfish.
Mr Duffy was found guilty of serious misconduct and was dismissed in July 2023.
In August 2025, he claimed unfair dismissal and discrimination at a Newcastle tribunal, but both claims were dismissed.
In reasons published on Wednesday in support of the judgment, the tribunal judge said the LNER’s decision to sack Mr Duffy was justified and that the conduct leading to his dismissal was not caused by his disability.