Senior lawyer wins record payout

The Crown Prosecution Service has paid a record £250,000 to a senior lawyer who claimed she had been the victim of racial and sex discrimination.

Maria Bamieh agreed to quit the service after 16 years as part of the deal, which also bans her from making negative comments about the CPS or revealing the details of her complaints or the level of the payout.

An independent inquiry branded the CPS "institutionally racist" in 2001 after a flood of discrimination claims, but this is thought to be the biggest payout so far.

A CPS spokesman said: "We can't say anything about Maria Bamieh because we have a confidentiality agreement with her."

Ms Bamieh won a record £30,000 award for injury to feelings in 2000 after succeeding in two earlier claims for race and sex discrimination and victimisation over her failure to win promotion.

Bedford employment tribunal found that the CPS had wanted to get rid of her and wanted "to rub her face in the dirt" after she launched the earlier claims.

It added that the conduct of the service towards Ms Bamieh had fallen below the standard "we would have expected of a corner shop".