Ex-Peppa Pig boss ‘loses £300,000 after he was sacked for brandishing a pen at his boss' in five-year court battle

The Sun

19-07-2025

AN EX-Peppa Pig exec has lost £300,000 after being sacked for threatening his boss with pen.
Mark Dowding, who earned up to £160,000 a year at toy giant The Character Group PLC, was given the boot and left with a hefty bill after a five-year court battle.
The former chief financial officer, who may be forced to sell his home and pension, was dismissed in 2017 after a breakdown in trust, following a heated row with his boss where he allegedly pointed a pen in a threatening way.
He took the company, makers of Peppa Pig plushies and Doctor Who toys, to an employment tribunal, claiming he was unfairly dismissed and that the pen incident was fabricated.
But in 2020 Employment Judge Omar Khalil said: "The tribunal concludes that the incident as described by [Mr Dowding's boss] did occur, which included the claimant pointing towards him brandishing a pen in a threatening manner."
Despite the ruling, the former Peppa Pig exec launched several appeals.
LEGAL BATTLE
Despite the ruling, Dowding launched several appeals and a High Court claim, running up eye-watering legal costs.
One remaining claim is still live- but he's now been told it will be struck out unless he coughs up the £288,000 he owes from his failed legal bids.
High Court judge Richard Spearman KC said the financial blow puts Dowding at risk of losing his £850,000 home and his pension, his only regular income.
The judge quoted Greek tragedy writer Sophocles, saying: "It is a painful thing to look at your own trouble and know that you yourself and no one else has made it'.
He added: "That, in my view, is the predicament in which the claimant Mr Dowding now finds himself."
THE PEN INCIDENT
Mr Dowding joined The Character Group in 2012 and was earning £110,000 plus a potential 50 per cent bonus by the time of his dismissal.
The 2017 incident unfolded during a heated meeting with his boss, Mr Shah.
Judge Khalil said: "Their discussion became heated and voices were raised.
"The claimant accepted in evidence he raised his voice first.
"Mr Shah also alleged that the claimant had pointed a pen towards him, causing Mr Shah to retreat.
"This was set out in his email, which followed this altercation on the same day.
"In that email, Mr Shah said: 'You raised your voice towards me in a threatening manner and pointed a pen in my face whilst rolling forward towards me with your chair. I had to roll my chair back to prevent injury to my face'.'
THE FIGHT GOES ON
After losing at tribunal, Dowding refused to back down, instead filing a flurry of appeals and launching a High Court claim.
In December 2023, an order was made securing his legal costs against the equity in his Rotherhithe Street home in south London.
Judge Spearman said: "Essentially as a result of the way in which he chose to plead his case and to contest the efforts of TCG to restrict that case to what is properly arguable, a number of substantial orders for costs were made against Mr Dowding in July 2024.
"Mr Dowding sought, but was refused, permission to appeal against those orders to the Court of Appeal.
"According to the disclosure Mr Dowding has provided, his only source of income is his personal pension, and his only substantial assets are his personal pension fund and the equity in his home.
"He now faces losing that fund, and maybe also his home, to meet those costs orders.
"He is in a very unhappy position because, on the disclosure he has made, he can ill-afford to meet these costs liabilities: either his home may be forfeit or his pension may be forfeit - possibly, if things go on the way they have, both.
"That is a consequence of bringing and pursuing expensive litigation which has all been unsuccessful, resulting in the costs orders."
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