Hearts fan claims he had to quit job after '˜5-1' gesture

A Hearts fan claims he had to quit his job after doing a '˜5-1' gesture in a picture with Hibs boss Neil Lennon.
The incident happened at Dynamic Earth. Picture; Jane BarlowThe incident happened at Dynamic Earth. Picture; Jane Barlow
The incident happened at Dynamic Earth. Picture; Jane Barlow

Security guard Steve Cairney then posted the picture to Facebook after taking the images at the Hibs player awards at Dynamic Earth.

The 5-1 gesture is popular amongst Hearts fans to taunt their rivals following their victory in the 2012 Scottish Cup final.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The 48-year-old insists that the pictures were nothing more than banter.

The Sun reports that the following day he was told not to come into work due to a formal complaint received, leading to him quiting his job after a ‘gross misconduct’ was launched.

He had also been told not to put the image on social media.

Speaking to The Sun, Steve said: “Some staff brought in their Hibs strips to get signed.

“I saw Neil Lennon so asked him for a photo.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I’m a huge Hearts fan so thought it would be a bit of banter to do the 5-1 signal with my hands.”

He added: “I stopped Jason Cummings for a photo and he agreed. I did the 5-1 sign with him and he just laughed it off.”

The former employee insists that he did not place the image on social media explaining: “A family member posted the picture on her Facebook page as I sent it to her as she is a Hibs fan.

“Once it was there it was put on Hibs fan sites, Twitter and other places — I never put it on social media at all.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Days after I spoke to someone at the work who told me they weren’t happy as it was gross misconduct.

“I spoke to my boss and I felt I was going to get the sack and I was asked to resign. I thought that would be the best thing to do.

“I think it’s all a bit too much over a simple photo. The photo was only online for a short while, but I want to make it clear that I never put this up on Facebook.”

Hibs and Dynamic Earth were both contacted by the newspaper but did not comment.