A prosecuting solicitor, who was suspended from her job after joking that she was a friend of Osama bin Laden, has won her fight to prove she was the victim of race discrimination.

An employment tribunal has upheld Halima Aziz's claim that she was racially discriminated against by the Crown Prosecution Service, for whom she worked in Bradford.

But as Miss Aziz, 44, who is of Pakistani origin, today considered her future the CPS warned it might appeal against the tribunal's decision.

The lawyer, of Manningham, Bradford, was suspended for gross misconduct in October 2001, two weeks after her alleged comments to a security guard at Bradford Magistrates Court.

She had told the tribunal in Leeds that she had joked about being a friend of bin Laden after the guard inferred she was a security risk when she arrived for work not long after the September 11 terror attack.

It was claimed that the comment and a remark she was alleged to have made about it being the fault of the Jews had sparked a confrontation between white and Asian youths.

But Miss Aziz described the comments as banter between court officials and said she should not have been suspended because an initial investigation by the CPS local management would have established her innocence. There was no video evidence of a disturbance.

She told how she was humiliated and sobbed uncontrollably when she was told to clear her desk and leave the building when she was suspended.

The tribunal found that the Chief Crown Prosecutor Neil Franklin, middle management and personnel failed to make proper preliminary inquiries and evaluate evidence, which would have revealed the allegations were false and malicious, before suspending Miss Aziz.

It said that after the suspension an internal CPS investigator found Miss Aziz had not made any discriminatory remark or caused a disturbance and found no evidence to support the allegation.

The ruling went on: "Because of the race and ethnic origins of the applicant the respondents assumed that the complaint against her had substance and that was not an assumption they would have reached if the applicant was a white male."

Miss Aziz, who has been on sick leave suffering from depression since she was suspended, said she was happy about the tribunal's decision but had not decided whether to seek her old job back.

She said: "I am just relieved that, after nearly three years, hopefully it is now over. The tribunal has ruled in my favour in every aspect of the race claim.

"I haven't decided what I am going to do next. I am still not well enough to work. I am not in a fit state of mind to think about my future."

Her solicitor, Wajid Khalil, said: "The tribunal's decision was critical of the CPS and highlighted its failures, which included crucial matters left unrecorded, notes being destroyed, failing to follow procedure and rushing to a premature and wholly wrong judgement. This was ironic considering the everyday task of the CPS is to evaluate evidence."

Maria Bamich, of the Society of Black Lawyers, said: "The actions of the CPS have destroyed the career of yet another dedicated minority ethnic lawyer. It made assumptions which were motivated by race. The public need to have confidence that racism has been eradicated in the CPS, however, cases such as this show it is badly failing its ethnic minority staff."

Sue Cunningham, spokesman for the CPS, said they were disappointed with the tribunal's ruling and there was a possibility they would appeal.

She said: "It is a long and complex judgement and we will be looking at it with our lawyers and considering whether to appeal.

"Miss Aziz has been on long-term sick leave so the question of reinstatement does not arise. If she gets better we would have to consider that situation at that time."

She added: "We do take equality very seriously. We have made a great deal of progress on equality issues over recent years. We are very serious about treating everybody fairly."

Miss Aziz lost a second claim for sex discrimination.

e-mail: steve.wright

@bradford.newsquest.co.uk