Asian detective who won £250,000 in racism row wins ANOTHER payout from police

Gurpal Virdi sued Scotland Yard for a second time after being turned down for a promotion - and won.

The payout from yesterday's ruling could run into tens of thousands of pounds, adding to the £240,000 he has already received.

It has also emerged that Mr Virdi is preparing to sue the Met for a third time.

Yesterday's decision was a major setback for Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair who sanctioned a controversial peace deal with Mr Virdi after the previous case.

The Sikh detective sergeant first took the force to court in 2000 after he was falsely accused of sending racist hate mail to colleagues, and sacked.

He won £240,000 compensation and was reinstated after a tribunal found that he had been the victim of racial discrimination.

After being turned down for promotion to inspector in 2005, he launched this latest case, saying he had been victimised and discriminated against.

Mr Virdi claimed that his previous dispute with the force had resulted in him being treated 'less favourably'.

Earlier this year, the tribunal heard that Mr Virdi's initial application for promotion was approved at a local level by the recommending panel.

But the recommendation was overturned by the Met's 'Central Review Panel'.

Instead of his application being reviewed by a 'Final Panel' - along with other deselected candidates - Met Deputy Assistant Commander Stephen Roberts was asked to look at his case.

In his closing speech to the panel at Kingsway Employment Tribunal in central London, police lawyer Clive Sheldon said: 'Was, as is one version, Detective Sergeant Virdi's application turned down as a result of some conspiracy to impede and hinder him in his career development?

'Or was it really a genuine non-discriminatory response to what was described as a poor application. . .?'

The Met argued that his application was considered fairly and he was unsuitable for a more senior post.

But the tribunal yesterday found that Mr Virdi had suffered victimisation. It did, however, reject his claim for racial discrimination. The

detective's lawyer, Mohinderpal Sethi, has claimed that rather than Mr Virdi being paranoid, it was the Met who overscrutinised anything to do with him.

Mr Virdi is now suing the Met again after being denied promotion earlier this year.

His first case attracted huge publicity and became a cause celebre for race campaigners.

The father of two was alleged to have sent racist hate mail to himself and other ethnic minority officers and civilian staff at Ealing Police Station in West London. One of the letters read: 'Not wanted. Keep the police force white. Leave now or else.' It was signed 'NF' for National Front.

It was claimed that this was his attempt to cast a spotlight on racism in the force after he was overlooked for promotion.

Mr Virdi was arrested on April 15 1998 and his home was searched for seven hours but the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to proceed with criminal charges.

On February 7 2000 he appeared before a police disciplinary tribunal and on March 3 that year was found guilty and dismissed from the force.

He then took the Met to an employment tribunal and it found that he had been racially discriminated against and he was awarded £150,000.

He later received a further £90,000 for loss of career and injury to feelings.

In a statement, Scotland Yard said yesterday it was 'disappointed' that the tribunal had ruled Mr Virdi had been victimised by the force.

It added: 'Clearly the Met will give full and careful consideration to the written decision of the tribunal.

'DS Virdi remains a valued member of the Met and we will continue to provide him with the appropriate support to meet his professional development needs, as we do with all of our staff.'