COP’S £95K IN N-WORD RACE ROW

Sgt’s fury at snub by force

AN Asian police officer has been awarded £95,000 compensation after colleagues ignored his complaint that he had been called the N-word.

Sgt Zaheer Ahmed, 54, reported that a drunk uttered the racial slur in a police custody suite.

He reported it and an investigation was launched.

But instead of the culprit being charged with using racially insulting words or behaviour – which carries a maximum two-year jail sentence – the case was dropped after a white female officer dismissed the remark.

Sgt Ahmed told an employment tribunal: “She thought the prisoner was not being serious so it didn’t go any further.

“It is distressing to me that you can be called a n ***er in an aggressive and intimidating manner, humiliatingly in front of all your colleagues, and then told that it was not being pursued.’’

The incident was among a catalogue of racially-motivated snubs that Sgt Ahmed said he suffered during 23 years with North Yorkshire Police. He claimed he was constantly blocked as he tried to climb the career ladder. Meanwhile, one officer who had been sacked for racially abusing a doorman was reinstated and later allowed to preside over one of Sgt Ahmed’s promotion applications.

The Teesside tribunal ruled that Sgt Ahmed had been the victim of racial discrimination. North Yorkshire Police apologised and agreed to pay him £95,000 in compensation and costs.