Shujaat Husain was a director of intelligence in Pakistan

Kent Police twice rejected a job application from Shujaat Husain, of south London.

An industrial tribunal found he had suffered racial discrimination and ordered Kent Police to pay damages.

After the hearing, Kent Police said it had apologised to Mr Husain and that a review was being carried out.

The tribunal heard the actions of Kent Police resulted in Mr Husain, from Upper Norwood, being arrested and detained when he applied for a job with Avon and Somerset Constabulary.

It heard Kent Police rejected Mr Husain twice for the job of intelligence analyst in 1999 and 2000.

My only crime was that I was a Pakistani and a muslim Shujaat Husain

The tribunal accepted the force compiled a report on Mr Husain and circulated it to other forces, warning of a "potentially fraudulent application".

The report was based on differences in the two applications.

But the tribunal found: "It was apparent from the two application forms that the claimant had taken steps in the period between the two applications to become more familiar with the job of an intelligence analyst."

The tribunal heard the father-of-two, who arrived in the UK in 1999, was previously a high-ranking police officer in Pakistan, tri-lingual, and had been accepted for a PhD which he turned down due to financial constraints.

'Apology made'

After the ruling, Mr Husain said: "My only crime was that I was a Pakistani and a muslim."

His legal adviser Lisa Connerty said: "This was a very serious case of race discrimination as is indicated by the award of exemplary damages."

The tribunal ordered the Kent Chief Constable to pay �65,000 in damages, including �25,000 for injury to feelings, �4,000 aggravated damages and �5,000 exemplary damages.

Kent Police said it had apologised, that the rejection was "a result of direct racial discrimination", and that a review was under way.

The force said the case related to applications made before Chief Constable Michael Fuller took office in 2004.