A civil servant who lied about a photograph showing her bound and gagged in the office of a government body has lost her bid for reconsideration of her unsuccessful unfair dismissal case.

DeeAnn Fitzpatrick claimed she was subjected to the ordeal for blowing the whistle on a culture of bullying and misogyny at Marine Scotland, however she was later dismissed for being dishonest over the timing and nature of the incident.

She launched a claim for unfair dismissal but lost her case in January, with the employment tribunal also finding that she had been “dishonest” about the incident.

The Canadian national has now also failed in a bid to have her claim looked at again.

Employment judge Alexander Kemp said her application “adds nothing material” to the arguments already put forward at the original tribunal.

The image of Ms Fitzpatrick taped to an office chair went viral at the peak of the #metoo movement and prompted a national outcry and an investigation by the body.

However, the probe found the men involved had “no case to answer”, with the incident being described by some as office “high jinks”.

Ms Fitzpatrick claimed that the photograph was taken in December 2010 and the incident was punishment for her speaking out about an alleged assault on another member of staff. However, the original tribunal accepted that it was taken in August 2009 as digital evidence showed that date.

The former fisheries worker maintained her position on the date in her recent application.

Judge Kemp stated: “She maintains her position that the event in relation to her being taped to a chair occurred on 16 December 2010, but what is stated in relation to that does not address the weight of evidence to the contrary as set out in the judgment.”