And an Industrial Tribunal has also ruled Stephen Murphy should be reinstated by July 16 at the latest.

Mr Murphy, a Protestant, suffered horrendous victimisation after it became known he was marrying a Catholic.

The tribunal was told he was visited by Special Branch who informed him his life was in danger and that the information may have come from some of his colleagues.

Ian Paisley jnr, who gave evidence on Mr Murphy's behalf, said he had suffered "disgraceful" discrimination.

In a shocking ruling by a Fair Employment Tribunal panel that makes a mockery of the equality measures in post-Patten policing, it was revealed how two senior officers colluded to drive the experienced scenes-of-crime snapper out of his job at Knocknagoney PSNI station.

Stephen Murphy, a Protestant, had worked for the RUC for two years in the late 1980s, and then served a lengthy secondment to the Forensic Science Agency before working as a civilian photographer for the police at Knocknagoney from 1998.

In early 2001, when he returned from leave, Mr Murphy discovered he had been removed from his usual duties without explanation.

He was then subjected to a poor annual appraisal by a senior cop - referred to only as 'Inspector F' - which Mr Murphy felt was harsh.

Soon after - the tribunal accepted - another officer confided in Mr Murphy that he had overheard Inspector F and another officer, 'Acting Sergeant K', discuss how to "make life as difficult as possible for (Murphy) and to get him out of the organisation or to get him to resign, as he was intending to marry a Catholic".

It was the start of a shameful campaign of discrimination and harassment against Mr Murphy that left him suffering panic attacks, off work on sick leave and in fear for his life because his personal details were put in the hands of republican paramilitaries.

In a detailed case accepted as fact by the tribunal, Mr Murphy told how:

• Acting/Sgt K repeatedly made derogatory remarks about Murphy's fiancée, including calling her a "whore" and "that Catholic bitch" .
• Professor Jack Crane, the State pathologist, had left a wedding gift at Knocknagoney for the couple, only for it to "disappear".
• He was visited at home to sign statements for court, including statements he had NOT made, or which had been made in his absence.
• Police had told his new wife he was a "lunatic", and warned his father-in-law that he was a danger to his daughter.
• Special Branch visited him to warn that his personal details were in the hands of paramilitaries in south Armagh and may have been leaked by his colleagues. Murphy later had two run-ins with suspected paramilitaries - including one attempt to run his car off the road.
• A court exhibit prepared by him was removed from a secure room and dumped in a bin in a bid to discredit him.
• His personal belongings were taken from a locked desk and dumped in a bin.
• He was threatened with disciplinary action over debts after his sick pay dried up.
• His first 'back-to-work' meeting had been organised with Acting/Sgt K, the officer responsible for the worst of the bigotry and bullying.

When Mr Murphy was eventually passed fit to return to work by an occupational health medical examiner, and his sick line "closed" by his GP in July 2003, he was not immediately reinstated and his "less favourable treatment" continued at the hands of the police's personnel department, the tribunal found.

To make ends meet for himself and his pregnant wife until he was allowed back to work, Mr Murphy took a job as a photographer at Belfast City Hospital.

He was eventually dismissed on a charge of gross misconduct - without a proper disciplinary hearing - with his police bosses saying he had been working while on sick leave.

When he appealed to the Policing Board - represented by DUP MLA Mervyn Storey - the board found that his dismissal had been too harsh.

However, the police refused to reinstate him in spite of appeals from the DUP's justice spokesman Ian Paisley Jnr to the PSNI's human resources manager to accept the board's recommendation to give Mr Murphy his job back.

cmcguigan@belfasttelegraph.co.uk