THE good name of air stewardess Gail Sheridan has been dragged through the mud in a vicious witchhunt.
After an eight-hour police raid, during which her underwear drawer was searched, she was charged by police over the alleged theft of alcohol miniatures found on display in a cabinet in her home.
Her reasonable explanation that she collects miniatures from different airlines and that family and friends often return from trips with additions to the collection was not accepted.
Her bosses at British Airways were told and she was suspended pending an inquiry.
It has taken a considerable time for Gail to clear her name. Now, after five long months – during which the initial police charge was dropped – she has been formally reinstated.
She can return to the job she loves and has excelled in for 23 years.
Popular with colleagues and passengers alike, Gail will soon be flying again in her role as senior purser.
She is understandably relieved but Gail is also angry.
She has suffered stress and felt shame as well as worry after being on the receiving end of the muck that was flung in her direction.
There are some who may say her reputation has been tarnished as a result of the investigation.
Nothing could be further from the truth. She has been proven innocent and her reputation remains intact.
The same cannot be said, however, for the reputations of those who sanctioned such a reprehensible search operation in the first place.
