A SUFFOLK police intelligence officer claims she was "ostracised" by the force after accusing a colleague of criminal conduct.Vivienne Yarham told an employment tribunal she suspected fellow detective constable Steve Rowland of falsifying evidence and putting sources in danger.

A SUFFOLK police intelligence officer claims she was "ostracised" by the force after accusing a colleague of criminal conduct.

Vivienne Yarham told an employment tribunal she suspected fellow detective constable Steve Rowland of falsifying evidence and putting sources in danger.

Ms Yarham, who is claiming constructive unfair dismissal against Suffolk police, also said she thought Dc Rowland had been using work time to generate business as a carpet layer.

"I was concerned that he was giving quotes for laying carpets during work hours," she said

She added Dc Rowland was "indiscreet" about police informants, causing them to fear their identities were "not secure" and could be "compromised".

Ms Yarham told the tribunal, sitting in Bury St Edmunds, Dc Rowland had falsified evidence in order to pay his sources, who were police informants.

She also suspected him of "setting up" one of her sources, who had been providing vital information.

But after making a complaint against the officer, Ms Yarham said she told she was being posted elsewhere and her contact with her sources stopped.

She was later moved to work on operation enterprise, a major crackdown on burglaries.

But Ms Yarham said she was unhappy at being moved because she had done "nothing wrong".

She said: "I explained that I had worked really hard to get my sources and I was being punished for something the force apparently encourages, whistleblowing."

Ms Yarham said she also noticed a change in the way her colleagues treated her during this period, the summer of 2003.

She said: "They were treating me with suspicion. Normal support I would've been given was not extended to me. I felt completely ostracised.

"I didn't think they were taking my complaint seriously. Nobody has spoken to me about this to this day."

The tribunal was told this was the first complaint of its type investigated by Suffolk police's professional standards department, meaning it was a real "learning curve" for the force.

Ms Yarham earlier told the tribunal that, as the only female intelligence officer in the force, she had "cultivated very good sources who produced very good results".

She added this vital work in the war against drugs and crime was carried out at a time when Ipswich was becoming "a much more dangerous society".

Ms Yarham, who was based at Ipswich, said the treatment she received left her with no option other than to quit in October last year after 25 years' service with Suffolk Constabulary.

Previously she had never faced any problems despite working in a male-dominated job.

The tribunal continues.