Search icon

Lifestyle

20th Mar 2015

How unlucky was this man to lose his job over cocaine-contaminated bank notes?

We're glad the man got some justice...

Ben Kenyon

There is never a good way to lose your job – but this must be among the worst.

Bristol bus driver Alan Bailes was sacked after testing positive for cocaine in a saliva test at work – despite insisting he had never touched illegal drugs.

Luckily for him he went to a GP and spent £440 on a more accurate hair follicle test which proved he had never taken any drugs, the Guardian report.

The culprit, it turns out, was cocaine-contaminated banknotes from customers which 55-year-old Mr Bailes had been handling before he took the test.

Rotten luck. But after being wrongly accused, justice was done and he won a hefty payout.

Figures show that more than 88% of British banknotes contain drug traces.

Topics:

Drugs,News