A train worker who was sacked after first class passengers were served sausage rolls taken from a bin said he went "too far for the customer". Peter Duffy, who worked for London North Eastern Railway (LNER), was accused of preparing the savoury snacks which were then taken to first-class passengers by a colleague.

Another member of the train crew reported hearing laughter from the train's kitchen before the food was served. They complained after noticing the bin was empty when they had been told no sausage rolls were available, as they had been thrown away.

Mr Duffy and a fellow train crew member were working onboard an LNER service departing from York when two passengers in first class requested sausage rolls on May 7, 2023.

The colleague who reported concerns said: "Myself and a host from standard class had been in the kitchen to get ourselves food when the host who was cooking told us the sausage rolls had just gone in the bin."

Later, the member of staff reported hearing "lots of laughing" from inside the kitchen where Mr Duffy and his colleague were, before reminding them a passenger was sitting nearby.

They added: "A couple of minutes later one of the hosts from first class took the sausage rolls to Coach K.

"After I had finished my food I took my rubbish to the bin in the kitchen and this is when noticed the bins were empty and there were no sausage rolls in the bin."

The member of staff claimed Mr Duffy had taken the sausage rolls from a bin before plating and reheating them.

His colleague from the kitchen was then said to have served the puff pastry snacks to the customers sitting in first class.

Mr Duffy was told that CCTV footage had been retrieved and appeared to show that items of food that had been disposed of in a bin had been retrieved by him in the presence of his colleague.

Both were suspended by the train company pending an investigation into the alleged breach of food hygiene standards.

At an investigatory meeting on May 17, 2023, Mr Duffy said he was "a person who goes over and beyond for the customer".

He said: "I clearly took them out as there were none left for people in first class but they were wrapped in foil. We had totally ran out, I have just gone too far for the customer in my mind."

Mr Duffy said he suffered from anxiety and depression, was on medication and had been stressed with work. He added: "That was me trying to do the best for the customer which I am well known for."

A union rep present at the investigation said Mr Duffy "had suffered from a recognised condition that day, known as transient global amnesia". Transient global amnesia is a sudden, temporary interruption of short-term memory.

Mr Duffy's colleague denied seeing him take the sausage rolls out of the bin and said they were laughing because she had passed wind, but the tribunal found her evidence was unreliable as it was likely to be self-serving. Mr Duffy was found to have committed gross misconduct and was dismissed in July 2023.

He claimed unfair dismissal and discrimination at a tribunal in Newcastle in August 2025, but both complaints were dismissed.

In remarks published on Wednesday to support the judgment, the tribunal judge said LNER had acted reasonably in deciding to dismiss Mr Duffy and the actions which prompted his dismissal were not something which happened as a consequence of his disability.