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Ugly turn to Scotland Yard race row

LONDON: The race row surrounding Scotland Yard following allegations of racism by Britain’s senior-most Asian police officer, Tarique Ghaffur, turned ugly on Monday after Mr. Ghaffur sensationally claimed he had received “credible” death threats from serving police officers.

Mr. Ghaffur, who has sued Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair for racial discrimination, said he feared for his life after receiving a “barrage” of threats, including some from within the police force.

A spokesman of the legal firm representing him said the firm planned to hire private security guards to protect him as they did not have trust in the police. “They are very serious [threats] and we do not have the trust and confidence in the people we have to go to get security. They are very credible threats,” Shahrokh Mireskandari — Mr. Ghaffur’s lawyer — was reported as saying.

Mr. Ghaffur, who is Assistant Commissioner of Police, is claiming £1 million in damages, claiming he has been discriminated against because of his race, religion and age. In a dossier submitted to an employment tribunal, he is reported to have alleged racism in the police force is far more widespread than is normally believed and that senior Asian and black officers have to work in a “hostile” and “poisonous” atmosphere.

The police are routinely accused of racism and were held “institutionally racist” by an official inquiry in 1998, but this is the first time that an officer of Mr. Ghaffur’s seniority has decided to take legal action.

The case, which has split the police along racial lines, is likely to put further pressure on Sir Ian, who is already struggling to save his career after a series of damaging incidents under his watch. This included the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, a 27-year-old Brazilian electrician who was shot dead at a London tube station in July 2005. The police had claimed they thought he was a terrorist.

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