Latest news with #TomCrombie
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Education boss who sent e-mails joking about cocaine and strippers is cleared of wrongdoing after explaining he was pretending to be Wolf of Wall Street character
An education boss who sent emails joking about cocaine and strippers has been cleared of any wrongdoing after saying he was pretending to be Wolf of Wall Street character. Tom Crombie, 40, of Edinburgh, Scotland, appeared at the High Court in London this week after being accused of 'fraudulent misrepresentation' and gross misconduct relating to his email exchanges with a senior executive. Former schoolteacher Crombie had negotiated to sell a stake of his company My Online Schooling for £9million to Inspired Education Group, which boasts more than 90,000 students in 119 schools across 27 countries. However, Inspired claimed 10 email exchanges between Crombie and the executive evidenced drug and alcohol use and were 'highly offensive, obscene, vulgar, racist, sexist and discriminatory'. They said the true value of the stake should be at least halved because of this, meaning Crombie would lose at least £4.5million. But the 40-year-old's defence that his emails - which made apparent reference to cocaine - were 'banter' have been upheld by a judge. One of Crombie's emails read: 'Who nose how busy London will be this week. Will be good to see Charlie, the new king if he's in town. 'Weather looking cooler next week and possible snow. Looking like that fine powder type. Think there are tourists coming from as far afield as Columbia which will be great to see.' Crombie, who first taught in Scotland and New Zealand before founding his online school in 2016, said the plot of The Wolf of Wall Street was 'two guys running a business get into the world of drugs and other related trouble'. In another email, Crombie wrote: 'Arrive in London… C & S [cocaine and strippers] till we leave (in body bags).' Mrs Justice Joanna Smith said the exchanges were 'a minuscule proportion' of the messages between the pair over two years and that they did not warrant claims of gross misconduct. She said: 'Looked at dispassionately, the emails evidence the occasional unprofessional and inappropriate use of work emails as a means of letting off steam. 'The mere fact of sending an inappropriate or unprofessional message from a company email address does not itself constitute gross misconduct. 'They had not been acting improperly on school business. On the contrary their conduct towards everyone outside their tight-knit friendship was at all times entirely professional. 'The alcohol and cocaine emails do not evidence actual overconsumption of alcohol or the possession of, or use of, illegal drugs, but rather a somewhat immature and naive "letting off steam" by two close friends with a dark and ironic sense of humour who were working all hours to make the business a success.' Crombie said the emails were 'an ironic comparison' to the movie Wolf of Wall Street, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort and Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff. Judge Smith said the emails showed the kind of 'light-hearted banterous, and sometimes ludicrous, exchanges of the type that occur between friends'. She added the men shared a 'long-running joke to contrast their lives with the 'alpha male' conduct of the film's protagonists. The judge dismissed a further claim that the men's reference to 'tidies' was a 'disrespectful, demeaning and sexist term for a woman' and accepted it was 'a term used in Scotland for a good-looking, attractive, woman'. Smith also accepted that the men were unaware that the hit song Roxanne, performed by The Police, was about a prostitute after the pair had referred to 'red light' during an exchange about a senior colleague named Roxanne.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Investigation finds Pirates promised to take care of Bucco Bricks, but instead threw them out
Pirates fans who purchased a 'Bucco Brick' over 20 years ago recently found out that the commemorative bricks they paid for were destroyed. Lifelong Pirates fan Tom Crombie says his 'Bucco Brick' was a heartfelt way he and his family honored his late father every time they visited PNC Park. 'So we'd always see it. It was right behind Willie Stargell out in left field in the right hand corner,' Crombie said. 'I knew exactly where it was. We'd go there, I'd have people send me pictures of it like 'oh, look who's brick we was your dad's!'' Crombie is one of some 10,000 people who bought Bucco Bricks, never thinking that these commemorative and personalized bricks would end up in a Reserve Township recycling facility some 20 years later. 'It's just a disappointing action by them in a world where they're struggling to have popularity in Pittsburgh, and I think they need to do everything they possibly can to keep fans,' Crombie said. The Sports and Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh, or 'SEA,'- which owns and operates PNC Park, launched an independent investigation into the excavation and disposal of the Bucco Bricks. The findings were released Thursday. The report says removing the bricks was part of a sidewalk replacement project funded by a state grant. The SEA's report says it was told that special care would be taken to salvage the Bucco Bricks. The SEA says it was the Pirates who made the decision to dispose of them. 'After 25 years, the sidewalks around PNC Park represented a safety risk and were in desperate need of repair, this included the Bucco Bricks,' Pirates spokesperson Brian Warecki said. 'The way in which we communicated and handled the replacement of those bricks was flat out wrong. That has been well documented at this point and something we, the Pirates, take sole and total responsibility for and are working hard to make right.' The Pirates have opened up a website, offering fans who previously had Bucco Brick the opportunity to get a complimentary commemorative brick. 'Really let down by the Pirates,' Crombie said about the situation. 'You know I can put up with them not spending money and you know not making the playoffs all the time, cause my son and I enjoy going to the game so much, but that was the first time that I really was falling out of love with the Pirates.' The Pirates also say a new permanent display at PNC Park will include all the original messages from the Bucco Bricks. We're told they're finalizing those plans and will share them later this season. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
