dalsingh101 Posted May 14, 2010 Report Share Posted May 14, 2010 (edited) Good on you Mr Virdi! A CRANFORD detective who was falsely accused of sending racist hate mail to himself and colleagues has been honoured by the country's Sikh community. Gurpal Virdi was awarded by the group Sikhs In England for 'making a stand for justice'. The 51-year-old was presented with his certificate last week by actress Cleo Rocos and 99-year-old marathon runner Fauja Singh. He was praised for showing 'strong leadership or skills in defending faith-based values and encouraging positive relationships between people from diverse backgrounds' in the citation. DS Virdi, who joined the police in 1982, said he had never walked away from injustice and had participated in several inquiries to help fellow members of the force nationally. "I was very honoured to receive the award from the Sikhs in England, who have recognised the work I do for many behind the scenes no matter what their background. To receive the Kirpan (a symbol of justice) from Fauja Singh was just as important." DS Virdi, who lives in Cranford and works for the Met Police, won a £240,000 payout from his bosses in 2000 after being cleared of sending racist hate mail to himself and fellow black and Asian officers at Hanwell Police Station. The treasurer of the Met Police Sikh Association was awarded a further £70,000 in 2008 after winning an employment tribunal over alleged victimisation by his superiors, only to be stripped of that money on appeal. http://www.hounslowchronicle.co.uk/west-london-news/local-hounslow-news/2010/05/13/honour-for-falsely-accused-cranford-detective-109642-26440914/ Edited May 14, 2010 by dalsingh101 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premi Posted January 1, 2022 Report Share Posted January 1, 2022 https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/31/officer-who-challenged-racism-in-police-cleared-of-sexual-assault-charges Officer who challenged racism in police cleared of sexual assault charges This article is more than 6 years old Retired detective sergeant Gurpal Virdi, who won two employment tribunal cases against Met, claims charges were part of vendetta Gurpal Virdi returning to work in 2002 after an employment tribunal found the Met police had racially discriminated against him. Photograph: Andrew Parsons/PA Vikram Dodd Fri 31 Jul 2015 18.38 BST A retired Asian officer who fought racism in the police has been cleared of sexually assaulting a prisoner almost 30 years ago after claiming the charges against him were part of a vendetta by Scotland Yard. A jury took 50 minutes on Friday to acquit former Det Sgt Gurpal Virdi of all charges over the incident which was alleged to have happened in 1986. The trial judge, His Honor Judge Andrew Goymer, said a conspiracy may have been behind the case against Virdi. Virdi alleged the case was brought to destroy his reputation and to punish him for speaking out. He told the Guardian a section of the Met had a “licence” to act as it wanted and had brought the case as part of a vendetta spanning 17 years. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premi Posted January 1, 2022 Report Share Posted January 1, 2022 https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/gurpal-virdi-metropolitan-police-racism-vendetta-claims-136707 Victimised former Met officer Gurpal Virdi: ‘Racists and bigots drove me out of the police’ Gurpal Virdi has been falsely accused of racism, shunned by colleagues and faced a wrongful accusation of assault – all […] By i Team March 20, 2018 1:06 pm(Updated July 17, 2020 2:34 pm) Gurpal Virdi has been falsely accused of racism, shunned by colleagues and faced a wrongful accusation of assault – all because he spoke out against discrimination, he says When two police officers turned up on Gurpal Virdi’s doorstep and said they wanted to speak to him about an alleged assault dating back 28 years, the former Metropolitan Police sergeant assumed it was a misunderstanding that would soon be cleared up. After the police interview – when he learnt that he was accused of attacking a black teenager in the back of a police van – he realised it wouldn’t be so easy. “I’m being stitched up again,” he told his wife when he returned home from questioning – for it was not the first time he’d faced such an accusation during his 30-year career at Britain’s largest force. Fighting racism in the force Mr Virdi has been wrongly accused of racism, shunned by colleagues and had attempts at promotion turned down, he tells i, as he launches his new book, Behind the Blue Line, about his latest – successful – attempt to clear his name. Mr Virdi says his card was marked after he gave evidence to the public inquiry into the 1993 murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence by a group of five white youths. The inquiry had concluded that Britain’s biggest force was “institutionally racist”. He had recounted a similar episode about an attack on two young students, one Iraqi and one of Asian origin, by white youths, and his frustration that it was not treated as a racist incident. ‘Other officers hated me’ How had his fellow officers felt about him? “Hated. I was hated by quite a few officers,” he says. “Rather than acknowledging my commitment to making London a better place, I got attacked.” The attempt to frame him for the attack in the back of the van was just the latest effort to punish him, he says. Two decades ago, he was sacked after being falsely accused of sending racist mail to colleagues at Ealing police station in west London. Mr Virdi was one of 13 black and Asian officers who received a printed image of a black man accompanied by the message: “Not wanted. Keep the police force white, so leave now or else.” Scotland Yard erroneously claimed that Mr Virdi himself had sent the mail, sparked by anger at being turned down for promotion. Gurpal Virdi now serves as a local councillor in London (Photo: Gurpal Virdi) Shunned and sidelined After the force apologised, paid damages and Mr Virdi returned to work, he was shunned and sidelined for a decade. He took every opportunity to take secondments that would take him away from the atmosphere at Scotland Yard until he finally left. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premi Posted January 10, 2022 Report Share Posted January 10, 2022 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premi Posted January 10, 2022 Report Share Posted January 10, 2022 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsingh101 Posted January 11, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2022 18 hours ago, Premi said: Nice to see him using his experiences in the ends. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GurjantGnostic Posted January 11, 2022 Report Share Posted January 11, 2022 On 5/14/2010 at 1:58 PM, dalsingh101 said: 99-year-old marathon runner Fauja Singh. If I had been eating wheaties I'd have just spit them out everywhere. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premi Posted January 11, 2022 Report Share Posted January 11, 2022 Looks a lot happier now also 6 hours ago, dalsingh101 said: Nice to see him using his experiences in the ends. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GurjantGnostic Posted January 13, 2022 Report Share Posted January 13, 2022 On 1/11/2022 at 12:15 PM, Premi said: Looks a lot happier now also Can only imagine what a relief it is to be away from all that toxicity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GurjantGnostic Posted January 13, 2022 Report Share Posted January 13, 2022 On 1/11/2022 at 6:55 AM, GurjantGnostic said: If I had been eating wheaties I'd have just spit them out everywhere. Runs marathons at 99!? Amazing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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