Porn editor sacked for choosing too tame photos

Pierre Perrone, 49, tried to target "discerning older gentlemen" while at the helm of soft-porn magazine Men Only.

But Mr Raymond's nephew, Mark Quinn, repeatedly ordered him to replace the chosen models with younger-looking women.

Mr Perrone was also told to make the magazine's content more explicit with bigger and more graphic photos.

A panel at Central London Employment tribunal upheld Frenchman Mr Perrone's claim that their "artistic differences led to him being demoted, then axed in a sham redundancy".

It ruled that Mr Perrone was unfairly dismissed from his £50,000-a-year post by Paul Raymond Publications.

And it expressed a "sense of wonder" at some of the company's mistreatment of Mr Perrone.

The firm, whose titles also include Mayfair and Escort, paid Mr Perrone an undisclosed amount, believed to be a five-figure sum, out of court after losing the case.

In return, Mr Perrone, from Sevenoaks, signed a confidentiality agreement banning him from discussing the case.

The company is owned by Mr Raymond, 81, who is worth an estimated £650 million, and Mr Quinn is its managing director.

In a written judgment, the tribunal panel ruled: "The view we have formed is that Mr Quinn had identified the claimant to be someone he wanted out of the organisation."

The panel found the process of selecting staff for redundancy was rigged and that no effort was made to find Mr Perrone another job in the organisation.

Giving evidence, Mr Perrone told how he was hired initially to work on the French edition of Club.

By the time he became editor of Men Only in 2004, its circulation was plummeting because of free porn on the internet, more hardcore porn being imported and competition from lifestyle magazines such as FHM and GQ.

Mr Perrone told the tribunal he believed the title had become tired and he had tried to target the more discerning market, using slightly older models.

The company claimed Mr Perrone was replaced as editor because of falling sales not differences of opinion.

But the panel rejected claims that he was genuinely redundant and found for Mr Perrone.