Daily Mail - 17.08.2019

Daily Mail, Saturday, August 17, 2019 Page 37

age of those ‘Nick’ lies

Being f ired

at 46 was

ageist, says

opera tenor

immediate effect just hours before

he was due to perform in the

Mozart opera Clemenza di Tito.

He claimed his dismissal at 46 was

effectively career-ending because

the arts industry wanted ‘younger

and more attractive performers’.

Mr Williams, of Heathfield, East

Sussex, said he was ‘extremely

upset’ to be sacked and had even-

tually decided to re-train as a sci-

ence teacher rather than pursue

his chosen career in opera.

He added that he was one of

three tenors in their mid-forties

forced to re-audition and then put

on ‘vocal review’.

Mr Williams, a married father of

one, appealed against the decision

but said he was told: ‘Choristers

cannot expect to stay with the

chorus until they die.’

Now 48, he said age discrimina-

tion was ‘prevalent’ at Glynde-

bourne, and said the decision to

recruit younger singers ‘seemed to

be a company policy’. Mr Williams,

who was paid weekly for 36 weeks

a year at £880 a week, so earning

£31,680 annually, told the tribunal

in Croydon, South London: ‘After

15 seasons with the company, I

was discarded like an old rag ... It

is difficult to find oneself without

work at the best of times.

‘The truth is that my dismissal

was a career-ending event, and

the respondent knew that.’

But Glyndebourne’s director for

artistic administration Steven

Naylor told the tribunal: ‘Neil’s

vocal ability was the only contrib-

uting factor to his dismissal.’

He said age was not a factor in

the decision and denied that

Glyndebourne discriminated

against older singers.

Mr Williams is claiming £20,000

injury to feelings as well as 56

weeks in lost earnings. His overall

claim is £89,600. Employment

judge Tony Hyams-Parish is

expected to rule on the case later

this year. Glyndebourne’s manag-

ing director Sarah Hopwood

defended her decision to uphold

the dismissal after a panel of four

managers unanimously found Mr

Williams’ singing was not good

enough to stay in the chorus.

And Glyndebourne’s barrister

Dylan Evans – who called Mr Wil-

liams’ claims an ‘extraordinary

conspiracy’ – insisted: ‘Half of the

existing permanent choristers are

over the age of 40.’

Chorus line: Neil Williams, circled, at Glyndebourne

By Vanessa Allen

A SINGER was ‘discarded like an

old rag’ from the Glyndebourne

Opera after he hit his mid-forties,

he claimed yesterday.

Neil Williams sang there for 15 years

but said he was sacked because direc-

tors wanted younger faces on stage.

The tenor was forced to re-audition for

his chorus role and fired after a panel

ruled his singing was not good enough.

He told an employment tribunal the

move had destroyed his singing career

and he is suing Glyndebourne for unfair

dismissal and age discrimination.

But the internationally renowned opera

house in Lewes, East Sussex, insisted he

was only sacked because his voice was no

longer up to its high standards.

Founded in 1934, Glyndebourne has

hosted performances from some of the

world’s greatest singers, including Luciano

Pavarotti and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

Mr Williams, a graduate from the Royal

Academy of Music, said he was fired with

unprecedented £1million claim for

damages, Mr Proctor, 72,

accuses detectives of a ‘reckless dis-

regard for lawfulness’ and ‘gross

negligence’.

His ‘particulars of claim’ were sub-

mitted this year before Beech was

convicted of perverting the course

of justice and fraud and jailed for 18

years last month.

The intervention by the duke,

David Manners, is likely to

strengthen Mr Proctor’s chances of

success against the Met, which is

fighting his legal claim. A hearing is

due to take place in November.

In the letter dated June 28, 2018,

the duke said: ‘Mr Proctor had been

my private secretary and worked for

the Belvoir Estate from 2002 until

March 2015.

‘As a result of the searches of Mr

Proctor’s office in my home at Bel-

voir Castle and his home on the Bel-

voir Estate...and the publication of

information that he was suspected

of serious criminal offences which

the Metropolitan Police Service

Commissioner considered to be

‘credible and true’, we had no alter-

native but to ask Mr Proctor to

resign his employment. Had he not

resigned we would have terminated

his employment.’

Mr Proctor’s role involved deputis-

ing for the duke in meetings, includ-

‘Kafkaesque nightmare of deceit

and injustice’. The loss of his grace

and favour home is alleged to have

cost him £129,600.

Since convicted paedophile Beech

was sent to prison last month, ex-

High Court judge Sir Richard Hen-

riques has told the Daily Mail that

police searches of the homes of VIPs

broke the law and a criminal investi-

gation should be launched.

The inquiry into Beech’s bogus

allegations of rape and murder

involving an Establishment child

sex ring closed in March 2016 with-

out any arrests.

Lord Brittan’s widow Diana and

Lord Bramall have each received

about £100,000 in out-of-court com-

pensation settlements.

But Mr Proctor has not reached an

agreement and a number of senior

officers, including Operation Mid-

land ‘gold commander’ Steve Rod-

house, are likely to be called to give

evidence if his claim goes to trial.

‘Kafkaesque

nightmare’

Letter of support: The Duke of Rutland and Harvey Proctor

ing hosting members of the Royal

Family, dealing with private corre-

spondence and being on call 24

hours a day.

In his legal action, he alleges the

Met ‘conspired’ with Beech and

reporters from a controversial news

website to ‘injure’ him.

Mr Proctor, who blames the inquiry

for a ‘major depressive illness’, has

separately described it as a

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