Damien  Markey (pictured) and his wife Jenny were dismissed by the University of Bolton after being accused of leaking embarrassing stories . A lecturer and his wife have been sacked from a struggling university after being accused of leaking embarrassing stories about its controversial £200,000-a-year vice-chancellor to the Press, it emerged yesterday. Damien and Jenny Markey were summarily dismissed by the University of Bolton after articles in the Daily Mail highlighted how the institution spends public money, a union said. The couple, who have three young children, deny being the source of stories revealing that the university was lending vice-chancellor Professor George Holmes £960,000 to buy a new house and spending up to £100,000 on staff away days to the Lake District. Critics had branded the expenditure a waste of money from an institution which has spent much of the 11 years since it became a university near the foot of national league tables. The latest case demonstrates how harshly public bodies treat those even suspected of being whistleblowers, let alone those who are proven to have leaked information to the media. It comes amid mounting alarm that staff in all organisations are not being protected from punishment if they report their concerns to the Press. The sackings were also branded a worrying blow against the tradition of free speech on campuses. Mr Markey, 42, was dismissed as a senior lecturer in visual effects for film and television after a 45-minute disciplinary hearing last Friday for ‘leaking information to the Press aimed at damaging the university’. According to his union he was told he had been overheard talking on his mobile phone using the words ‘boats’ and ‘lakes’, and accused of being the source of the story that the university was sending its 700 staff to a Lake District hotel in a series of away days for pep talks by Professor Holmes, who has a yacht moored nearby. The article first appeared in Times Higher Education, which yesterday said neither Mr Markey nor his wife were the source. Details of the trips had been sent to all staff, while the two-year loan to Professor Holmes appeared in university accounts. The struggling university paid up to £100,000 to send all 700 of its staff for stays at  four-star Lakeside Hotel and Spa (pictured) in the Lake District . Mr Markey was also accused of making malicious statements about colleagues and bringing the university into disrepute for highlighting concerns about a shortage of equipment following an £800,000 flagship project, the union said. His 36-year-old wife, an academic administrator in the health and community studies department, was dismissed on Monday over similar allegations which she also denies. The couple have denied revealing that the university lent  vice-chancellor Professor George Holmes (pictured) £960,000 to buy a new house . Mr Markey, who is said to have had an unblemished disciplinary record, was secretary of the local branch of the University and College Union (UCU) and led a walkout in 2013 in protest at a planned 1 per cent pay rise. The couple had been advised not to comment yesterday as the union insisted it would be appealing against the dismissal. General secretary Sally Hunt said: ‘These sackings are completely unjustified. Nobody likes looking a bit silly in public, but to start axing staff without evidence is the response of a desperate despot, not a university vice-chancellor.’ Bizarrely, the university’s official Twitter feed briefly ‘favourited’ a UCU tweet branding 53-year-old Professor Holmes a desperate despot. Mrs Markey is a member of Unison whose regional secretary Kevan Nelson said: ‘We are alarmed that the university has taken this arbitrary and vindictive decision. We will challenge this by all available means.’ Alan Smithers, professor of education at the University of Buckingham, said dismissing university staff accused of whistleblowing could have a chilling effect on freedom of speech. A university spokesman said: ‘The university is comfortable that procedures have been followed and as yet no appeal has been lodged. The process is not connected with a staff member being a trade union official. The university does not comment on the merits of individual cases.’ Whistleblowing in the public sector is supposed to be encouraged, but last week there was alarm that Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood had agreed plans to bar 430,000 civil servants from talking to the Press without permission or face being sacked.
Damien and Jenny Markey have been dismissed by the University of Bolton . But they have denied leaking stories about struggling university to Press . University loaned vice-chancellor Professor Holmes £1m for luxury house . It also paid up to £100,000 to send all 700 of its staff to the Lake District .