Gerald Lickley was the owner of Weatherfield Vale, a retirement home where Martin Platt went for a job after resigning from the NHS in January 1999 following allegations of mis-treatment by Les Battersby. A week later, Inspector Todd and an assessor arrived at the home for an impromptu inspection. Martin watched gleefully from a distance as Todd told Lickley that there were a number of areas where things weren’t what they ought to be. They left and Lickley took Martin to his office where he accused him of being the one who alerted the authorities and sacked him on the spot.