A former civil servant has finally been evicted from his Government accommodation following a two-year hiatus.

John Albert Gibbons was relieved of his job as caretaker of Darrell's Island on February 17, 2003 but has been occupying the caretaker's cottage ever since as his employment dispute went through arbitration.

Mr. Gibbons' tenure on the popular camping island was fraught with difficulty, Crown counsel for the Attorney General's Chambers Leighton Rochester told The Royal Gazette yesterday, with the caretaker called in by Government authorities on a number of occasions to answer accusations of inappropriate behaviour - the specifics of which were not made public.

Mr. Gibbons, however, continues to dispute that he has ever been in the wrong.

The Ministry of Works and Engineering's decision to fire Mr. Gibbons was eventually upheld at a hearing last August adjudicated by Senate President Alf Oughton, when he was asked to vacate the premises on Darrell's Island, which comes under the remit of the Ministry of Youth and Sport.

However, since that time Mr. Gibbons has refused to leave the cottage - stubbornness which prompted the Ministry to launch an appeal in the Supreme Court.

Addressing Puisne Judge Ian Kawaley yesterday morning, Mr. Gibbons claimed the arbitration decision against him was not binding, in that there had been no agreement to this effect between Government and his representatives, the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU), before the hearing took place - as required under the 1975 Labour Relations Act.

This argument was bolstered by the testimony of BIU president Derrick Burgess, who backed the defendant by insisting that no agreement had been reached.

Mr. Gibbons also queried the fairness of the arbitration, suggesting Sen. Oughton had been briefed beforehand and had delivered a prejudiced verdict.

But based on official correspondence between the BIU and the Labour Relations Office - presented to the court by Crown counsels for the Attorney General's Chambers Mr. Rochester and Debra-Lyn Goins - Justice Kawaley said he was satisfied both parties knew they were entering into binding arbitration before the process began, accusing the BIU of deliberately complicating what was in essence “a very simple issue”.

It was not his place, he continued, to rule on the fairness of the original hearing.

“In this instance the BIU, as any zealous defender of workers rights would do, have sought to clutch at whatever straws they could find to turn around the result,” he said.

“But it is quite clear from the evidence entered into arbitration having agreed arbitration would be binding.”

Despite Mr. Gibbons' pleas to be allowed to remain in the cottage until the end of May, Mr. Justice Kawaley pointed out he had had the best part of two years to make alternative arrangements in case the legal fight went against him, and ordered Mr. Gibbons out of the Government property by the end of the month.