A mum was sacked from her job after refusing to polish the coffin of a depraved paedophile.
Sam Garner, who has 11 children and nine grandchildren, recognised depraved Glazebrook’s name when his body was brought to the McCallum and Tritton funeral home in Bootle , from Walton Prison in June.
She said she was horrified and disgusted asked to tend to the body of Kenneth Glazebrook.
The 88-year-old pervert was jailed in February for five years for molesting three young girls over three decades.
Glazebrook’s sickened family are joining in calls to have Sam, 50, reinstated.
Her bosses claim the incident was not the sole reason for her dismissal and that disciplinary action was already being taken against her before she made her stand.
The firm said: "She is being dismissed for outbursts of unreasonable behaviour and insubordination."
Sam said: “I find paedophiles abhorrent. I didn’t want to touch him.
“I know I have got to feed my children, but my values and my morals wouldn’t let me work with that man.”
The mugshot of paedophile Kenneth Glazebrook
Glazebrook’s sickened stepdaughter Sharon Sedwick, 62, of Wallasey sais she had not known of Glazebrook’s death and would not have attended his funeral.
She said: “This poor woman was completely within her rights not to tend to Kenneth’s coffin. I feel very sorry that she’s lost her job.
“The firm who sacked Sam should hang its head in shame.
“My stepdad’s actions have destroyed the lives of three innocent girls.
“He was a horrible, evil man. How could this woman, as a mum and a gran, treat him just like any other person?”
Glazebrook tried to hide his face from the cameras during court hearings in February that he attended on a mobility scooter.
Kenneth Glazebrook, 87, of Deveraux Drive, Wallasey admitted sexually abusing young girls. Pictured leaving courtKenneth Glazebrook, 87, of Deveraux Drive, Wallasey admitted sexually abusing young girls. Pictured leaving court
The ex -soldier admitted five counts of indecent assault when he was presented with the overwhelming evidence before his trial started at Liverpool crown court.
Sam told the ECHO's sister title the Sunday Mirror: “Normally I arrange funerals and look after the deceased in the chapel, so I straighten their clothes, put things in the coffin and polish the coffin.
“I told my boss that I would deal with his family but I would not have anything to do with him in the chapel.”
Haunted by harrowing thoughts of Glazebrook’s crimes, Sam said she was so distressed she was forced to take the next day off.
She then received a letter from management saying she was being called to a disciplinary meeting.
Bosses described her behaviour as “insubordinate” and she returned to work the following day in time for Glazebrook’s funeral.
McCallum and Tritton & Sons Independent Funeral Directors in Bootle
Despite the threat of disciplinary action, defiant Sam refused to compromise on her stance when asked take the paedophile’s walking stick into the chapel of rest.
She explained: “I have done a lot of children’s funerals and I just can’t bear to think about that horrible man going into the same chapel of rest where those poor children have to go.
“If people knew that that man had been in the same chapel as their loved ones... I just couldn’t do it.”
Sam says her full-time contract was terminated on the spot eight weeks after she was promoted from a part-time position.
Bosses at the family firm claim that the incident wasn’t solely the cause and they were already considering her position after a dispute over holiday allowance. Sam acknowledged that there had been a disagreement over a day she had booked off.
But she says she was was not disciplined until the day after she took her stance on Glazebrook several weeks later and insists her bosses are trying to back-pedal.
Sam Garner at home after being sacked
She said: “I obviously needed my job and I am going to struggle without it, but it wasn’t a difficult decision for me to say no.
“My work has never been questioned before. I have letters from families thanking me and praising my work. When I was made full-time I was told my work was excellent.
“I was on a high at the age of 50 after bringing up 11 children to get a fantastic job on my own merit but now I have been sacked.”
But Andrew Stone, a partner at McCallum and Tritton, said: “There was already a disciplinary in place before anything was mentioned about this funeral. She is being dismissed for outbursts of unreasonable behaviour and insubordination.”
William Eccleston, director of the National Federation of Funeral Directors, said: “Should the lady involved have had concerns, it would have been much more appropriate for her to have discussed these with her firm rather than simply refusing to carry out the job.
“People in the funeral industry have a duty to look after the needs of a lost one’s grieving families regardless of that person’s
History.”
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/sacked-after-refusing-polish-paedophiles-11592981#rlabs=3%20rt$category%20p$1
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