After the police declined to make any appearance at the Fair Employment Tribunal, they were ordered to pay more than £44,000 to Mr Murphy - including £20,000 for injury to his feelings - because of the campaign of bigoted bullying he suffered.

In its detailed and damning ruling, the tribunal determined that Mr Murphy had been unfairly dismissed and had been discriminated against on grounds of the fact he had married a Catholic woman.

It also found that the discrimination had led to Mr Murphy being off work due to anxiety, depression and panic attacks.

And it added that the police's personnel department had "continued the less favourable treatment" in its failures to address Mr Murphy's complaints and work difficulties - and ordered it to re-instate him BY TOMORROW WEEK!

Ian Paisley jnr (right), who gave evidence on behalf of Mr Murphy at the tribunal, described the discrimination the photographer suffered as " disgraceful".

He added: "I am pleased that after a long, protracted case it has been resolved and in a way that justifies the stance my constituent took.

"And it sends out a message to the police and management within the police that they have got to be much more careful before they run a case to court, to ensure they do not get it so wrong."

When Sunday Life asked the police to comment on the scathing ruling and ask whether any disciplinary action had been taken against any officers as a result of the tribunal findings, a spokesman for Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde would only reply: "We don't discuss individual cases."