A civil servant who claimed that she was gagged and taped to a chair by colleagues is to face a disciplinary hearing for allegedly making false statements about the incident.

There was outrage in May last year when an image was published that showed DeeAnn Fitzpatrick, a fisheries officer with Marine Scotland, seemingly being restrained and humiliated by male co-workers.

Ms Fitzpatrick, 50, claimed her colleagues subjected her to the ordeal after she blew the whistle on a culture of misogyny in the Scottish government-funded office in Scrabster, Caithness. However, evidence is reported to have emerged that appears to contradict significant aspects of her claims. The Herald on Sunday reported that Ms Fitzpatrick was facing allegations of gross misconduct.

The newspaper says it has seen