Top detective takes the Met to court

A leading Met detective will today launch a race and sex discrimination case against Scotland Yard.

Chief Inspector Julia Pendry is thought to be the highest-ranking officer to bring such a claim against the force.

It is being seen as a test case that carries potentially massive implications for the Met.

Ms Pendry, who is in charge of police operations in Brent, initiated the claim after she was branded a racist for allegedly telling officers not to eat food at a Sikh festival in Southall in November

2003.

The allegations were investigated by the Met's department of professional standards during a fivemonth inquiry but were found to be unsubstantiated.

However, Ms Pendry was still given "words of advice", a form of sanction that appears on her disciplinary file.

Today, she will argue that promotion was denied to her as a result of the complaint against her and because at one time she had a personal relationship with a borough commander. Speaking before the employment tribunal hearing in Watford, Ms Pendry said: "I believe the complaint of racism against me was driven by very senior officers to obtain an outcome against me at all costs, regardless of the evidence.

"I believe this is discriminatory behaviour on grounds of race and sex. The pain I felt at being branded a racist and then being discriminated against is as raw today as it was in November 2003.

"I have dedicated my entire adult life to policing and feel that the repercussions of my bringing this claim will continue.

"I have no choice but to clear my name and expose the institutional cowardice within the Metropolitan Police service which exists at a very senior level."

At the heart of the case is the claim that she told officers not to eat at street stalls during the Sikh festival of Guru Nanak.

She alleges the Met failed to look into her complaints about the investigation that followed.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said the force denies the allegations.

Last May, Ms Pendry gave evidence to the Morris Inquiry, which was designed to look into whether ethnic minority officers were more likely to face disciplinary investigation, and whether their grievances were less likely to be dealt with than those of white colleagues.

In her evidence to the inquiry, she said senior managers "froze" when confronted with issues of race, preferring to immediately make complaints official rather than deal with them locally.

Her tribunal case comes as three white police officers are in middle of a race and sex discrimination case against the Metropolitan Police Force after they were wrongly accused of racism.