A charity worker sacked after being the victim of false domestic abuse claims by his ex-fiancee was unfairly dismissal, a tribunal has ruled.

Patrick Clark was fired from Maxie Richards Foundation, based in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, following the allegations made by Joanne Lynch.

Mr Clark took the organisation to an employment tribunal after his ex-lover's accusations were found to be untrue.

He has now won his case on the grounds of sexual discrimination and unfair dismissal following a hearing in Glasgow.

The tribunal ruled Mr Clark had not been given the same "credence" by the charity's founder Maxie Richards after Miss Lynch's claims were reported to her.

In a written judgment, employment judge June Cape said: "We have no explanation as to why that should be. Mrs Richards acted on an assumption that as a female Miss Lynch was the victim and the claimant was, as a male, was the perpetrator.

"She believed that the female account of mistreatment by a male partner is always and unquestionably true and the male's account false."

Mr Clark, of Knightswood, Glasgow, had worked as a manager in a factory run by the charity, which supports rehabilitation of drug users.

Miss Lynch was also employed by the foundation as an assistant at one of its shops.

The pair had got engaged, but they had an acrimonious split in 2010. Miss Lynch then threatened to "expose" him to the charity.

Mr Clark was hauled into a disciplinary and eventually sacked after the allegations were made against him.

The foundation had denied at the tribunal that his dismissal was anything other than redundancy. The charity had claimed the Port Glasgow factory where Mr Clark worked had been struggling financially.