Black Pc 'rejected for promotion eight times'

Met chief Sir Ian Blair's record on race is to come under renewed scrutiny after it emerged that a black police officer, who is the uncle of a teenage knife murder victim, is suing the force.

Derrick Quarm, 34, is the latest officer to take Scotland Yard to an employment tribunal, in a case due to be heard in November.

The former paratrooper claims he has been passed over for promotion eight times due to "repeated and targeted" discrimination when his application to become a trainee detective was considered.

Pc Quarm, a charity marathon runner who has taken only three days' sick leave in 11 years of service, is the uncle of A-level student Eugene Attram who was 16 when he was stabbed to death in Mitcham in November 2006.

PC Quarm's lawyer said he had been rejected eight times despite claiming to possess a superior record to his white peers. Melanie Thomas, of London discrimination law specialists Palmer Wade, added: "He absolutely never wanted to sue, but felt he had no choice."

A Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed: "Derrick Quarm, a serving Pc based in Lambeth, is bringing employment tribunal proceedings against the Metropolitan Police."

The case is the latest in a series of race rows engulfing the force. Earlier this month the Met's third in command, Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, was suspended after launching a £1.2 million racial discrimination employment tribunal claim.

The day after he was suspended, it emerged that the most senior Muslim woman in the force was also set to lodge a claim of race discrimination. Yasmin Rehman, the director of partnerships and diversity, claimed she was the target of racist bullying.