A senior police officer today spoke of her shock at being served with disciplinary action because of evidence she had given at an industrial tribunal.
Chief Inspector Charlotte Cartwright claimed that regulations were breached when she was served with a 17.3 (disciplinary notice) in April 2000, a month after the conclusion of a sex discrimination she had brought against a senior colleague.
She told an industrial tribunal in Belfast: "It had never been my experience in 28 years for anyone to have received a 17.3 emanating from evidence they had given at a court.
"This was absolutely new ground to me and left me in a state of utter confusion."
The case against Ms Cartwright was brought after a complaint from Superintendent Roland Laird and two sergeants that she had compromised their security by releasing personal details to her legal team.
It was alleged that she had given a document to her team but Ms Cartwright denied it.
Giving evidence on the third day of the hearing Ms Cartwright said that the police service had a number of options short of implementing the disciplinary proceedings against her.
She said the officers concerned could have been raised at the industrial tribunal, there could have been a preliminary investigation carried out to establish if a document had been released which breached anyone's security or she could have been questioned by a senior officer from complaints and discipline without the need for a 17.3.
The chief inspector said that at the end of the 14-month investigation she was asked by a superintendent why disciplinary action had been launched against her.
She added: "I asked him what policy or code I had breached and he said, `I don't know,'."
The hearing continues.
PA