In 1957 Brideshead Revisited author, Evelyn Waugh, published The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold. The novel dealt with a disturbing breakdown suffered by the protagonist, Pinfold, said to have parallels with Waugh's own life.

However, what might be called The Ordeal of Northern Pinfold was an entirely different incident brought to a conclusion in May 2010 by a High Court decision entitled Pinfold North Ltd v Humberside Fire Authority [2010] EWHC 2944. This is an extremely useful decision since it clarified an unhelpful uncertainty in the law – ie does a local authority officer have to be a local authority employee?