A Bradford race relations worker whose evidence was key in the inquiry into the police handling of Stephen Lawrence’s murder said yesterday he was stunned to hear he could be the victim of a suspected smear campaign by Sir Norman Bettison, the former West Yorkshire Chief Constable.

Mohammed Amran, who now works in a Bradford school as a behavioural support manager, was recognised for efforts following the riots in Bradford in 1995 but later criticised the police during his evidence to the Macpherson Inquiry which examined matters surrounding Mr Lawrence’s death.

Mr Amran told the Telegraph & Argus that he received a phone call on Tuesday from West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson, who had been notified of evidence suggesting Sir Norman allegedly sought to discredit him and influence the way his evidence to the inquiry was received.

Mr Burns-Williamson, who has referred the evidence to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), has spoken of significant concerns about Sir Norman's conduct when he was Assistant Chief Constable of the force.

Mr Amran said: “My solicitors have been speaking to the IPCC and have been told it could be two weeks for all the documents to come in from different forces because this is a national matter – then a decision will have to be taken whether it’s the IPCC which investigates it or a QC from the Home Office. I have not seen anything yet. I’m waiting to find out more so I can respond. They might have had me under surveillance. I don’t know what Bettison has been up to.

“When I was involved with him I was involved with racial equality, we were sitting round the table talking and I was a critical friend.”

Mr Amran, who received an honorary degree from Bradford University in 2002 for his work on social cohesion following the riots in the city, was once a lay adviser to the National Policing Improvement Agency, when Sir Norman was its chief executive. Sir Norman is yet to respond to the allegations which the IPCC is investigating.

Mr Amran had alleged that he was arrested a number of times, though never charged, before discovering that West Yorkshire Police had compiled evidence against him and sent it to the then Commission for Racial Equality chairman Gurbux Singh, urging the commission not to reappoint him. Mr Amran later sued West Yorkshire Police for racial discrimination, which was settled out of court.