The Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley has ordered a ‘full review’ after an employment tribunal found that three white officers had been passed over for promotion because of their race.

The tribunal heard that a superintendent on the force appointed an “Asian” sergeant to the role of detective inspector in an attempt to boost staff diversity, despite being warned about the legal risk of not holding a competitive process.

The case was bought by detective inspector Phillip Turner-Robson, inspector Graham Horton and custody inspector Kirsteen Bishop, all of whom claimed to have been disadvantaged because of their race – described in the proceedings as ‘white British’.

The officers had all worked for Thames Valley Police for over 19 years but were not given the chance to be considered for a DI role on the “priority crime team” in Aylesbury in 2022 after superintendent Emma Baillie decided to put Sergeant Sidhu in the role without advertising the vacancy.

Her decision was said to constitute “positive discrimination” – the practice of treating someone differently in a positive way based on protected characteristics.

In a statement released this week, Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley, Matthew Barber, described the tribunal findings as “clearly unacceptable”.

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He said he would call for a “full review into the processes, policies and approach” of internal staff appointments to “ensure this cannot happen in the future” and that promotions are granted “solely on merit”.

Adding: “It is critical in building confidence across our whole community that there is never any discrimination in policing.

“I recognise Thames Valley Police’s commitment to building a workforce that represents the whole community, but it is apparent from the judgement that the force was wrong on this occasion in that the processes it followed were not fair, transparent or competitive.”

Sergeant Sidhu had not even been promoted to inspector at the time she was given the DI role by superintendent Baillie and deputy chief constable Jason Hogg, the Norwich tribunal heard.

They also heard that Baillie tried to “retrospectively justify” the decision by claiming it was part of a BAME Progression Programme which “did not exist at the tome”.

Employment judge Robin Postle concluded that the promotion had “disadvantaged those officers who did not share sergeant Sidhu’s protected characteristic of race and were denied the opportunity to apply for the role”.