Jamaican-born trafic warden sacked for calling black colleague 'King Kong' during row over parking meter asks 'how can I be racist?'

A Jamaican-born lollipop man who was sacked for calling a black colleague 'King Kong' during a row over a parking meter has questioned how he can be a racist at an employment tribunal.

The Central London Employment Tribunal heard the incident in July 2013 erupted after Mr Seymour was speaking loudly on his phone in the town hall's reception area ahead of a meeting.

He claimed he had been trying to arrange a refund because a parking meter had swallowed £4 of his change when council worker Johnson Akinmoyede 'interrupted his conversation'.

The court heard that when Mr Akinmoyede asked him to keep his voice down, Mr Seymour replied: 'Who are you, King Kong? I will break you, move away from me,' reports the Evening Standard.

Mr Seymour, from Kentish Town in north London, was escorted from the building by two security officers for the alleged 'racially abusive and threatening behaviour'.

However, he claims the term 'King Kong' was not racist and in a statement by Christopher Nicola, manager of the council's Smarter Travel Team, it was a 'Caribbean thing'.

'He [Mr Seymour] asked how could it be racially abusive if you say something to someone of the same complexion, and that the way they were speaking was a Caribbean thing and they talk like that to each other all the time

Speaking at the time, Mr Seymour said: 'It was not racial. He was getting all angry so it was like he was acting like he was a big strong gorilla, so that's why I called him King Kong.

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