A whistleblower who turned down an out-of-court settlement so she could speak about her ordeal has been awarded just £5,631 following a tribunal.

Amanda Morling was dismissed by Hilton Community Services in 2015 following a disclosure about the alleged treatment of a vulnerable resident.

It resulted in a 12-month employment tribunal, which eventually concluded in August last year that she lost her job for blowing the whistle.

But after a year-long battle for justice, the 53-year-old from Great Yarmouth said she was 'devastated' to learn how much compensation she would be awarded.

Mrs Morling claimed to have previously been offered £14,000 by Hilton in an out-of-court settlement.

However, she turned down the money, fearing it would come with a gagging order to stop her from speaking to the press.

The mother-of-four said while the ordeal has cost her family around £9,000, she has only been awarded £4,431 in compensation from the tribunal.

She received a further £1,200 from Hilton for the tribunal fees.

'I was devastated because it was not just about the money,' she said. 'It's that there has been little consequence for their actions.

'The main reason why I didn't take the settlement was because there could have been clauses stating I would not be able to speak about the whole thing.

'Something had to change to make sure it did not happen again.'

Mrs Morling was dismissed by Hilton for gross misconduct aftershe reported her concerns toNorfolk County Council's safeguarding team.

The individual accused of abusing the resident was dismissed but was cleared of all charges following a trial at Yarmouth Magistrates' Court.

The tribunal judgment, which was published at the end of last month, found that Mrs Morling's disclosure was in the public interest.

It was concluded that she did 'reasonably believe' that Hilton had a history of ignoring concerns and treating staff detrimentally who blew the whistle.

Mrs Morling is planning to write a book on her experience. She was also hoping to set up a new support group for others, called Supporting the Whistleblower.

Staff at Hilton were unavailable to comment.

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