When Christmas bashes go bad

WHILE most Christmas parties usually conclude with nothing more harmful than throbbing hangovers all round, some bashes have got out of hand down the years.

The tabloid press had a field day when a group of SPL footballers became involved in a fight with a group of engineers at their Christmas night out in 2001.

In 1996, Paul MacDonald, a worker at Marks & Spencer, was sacked from the retailer's Argyle Street branch in Glasgow after his conduct at a Christmas party. He was accused of breaking a goldfish bowl and a plant pot after a fight broke out.

However, the operations assistant at the branch later received compensation for his unfair dismissal.

It is not just employees who get into trouble, however.

In 2000, Jim Hodkinson was ousted as chief executive of the clothing firm, New Look, after pinching a woman's bottom at a Christmas party. He later received around 650,000 in compensation.