Sussex Police was guilty of "outrageously bad practice" in its treatment of victims of homophobic crime, a tribunal heard.

On one occasion, a gay man who had been beaten up was "outed" to his parents by a police officer, it is claimed.

The officer allegedly asked the parents if they thought the attack was motivated by homophobia. But the man had not told them he was gay, an employment tribunal heard.

The allegations were made on day three of a hearing which is sending shockwaves though Brighton and Hove City Council, the city's gay community and now the police.

Council equalities officer Paul Stuart was giving evidence on behalf of transsexual Andy Baldwin, who is suing the council for sex discrimination.

Mr Baldwin was Brighton and Hove City Council's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) safety forum co-ordinator.

He claims he was forced to quit his job in January 2003 following bullying and harassment from bosses and prominent members of the gay community.

Mr Stuart, whose allegations about the police date back to 2001, worked alongside Mr Baldwin as the council's LGBT advocate.

Asked by tribunal chairman Lawrence Guyer if he was aware of any transphobia, a fear of transsexuals, towards Mr Baldwin, Mr Stuart said: "I can very clearly understand that he would have a perception that some of the actions taken were driven by elements of transphobia."

Mr Baldwin, previously known as Andrea, revealed his gender reassignment to close friends in summer 2002 but "personal prejudices and bigotry" of colleagues prevented him coming out at work.

The 34-year-old changed his name and underwent hormone therapy and sex-change surgery later that year. He was paid £26,500 a year by the council to co-ordinate the safety forum and also sit on the Anti Victimisation Initiative (AVI), a project to address under-reporting of racist, homophobic and transphobic crime.

He accuses safety forum chairwoman Anthea Ballam, a former Green Party election candidate, of bullying and alleges his line manager Linda Beanlands did nothing to protect him.

James Ledward, editor of G-Scene magazine since 1995, told the employment tribunal: "Two lesbians on the AVI panel were uncomfortable that Andrea was having a relationship with a transsexual because they viewed that person as a man so they could no longer view Andrea as a lesbian."

At the time Mr Ledward was chairman of the safety forum. He said: "We were spending many hours of our time trying to develop strategies for the LGBT community but came up against a brick wall with the council."

He added: "I like Linda Beanlands but I found her to lack professional boundaries when it came to managing staff. She would bring personal problems to the table and dump them on her staff."

He said his successor Anthea Ballam took a personal dislike to Mr Baldwin.

Daniel Ibekwe, of Portland Villas, Hove, a black and ethnic minority community leader for 15 years, was chairman of the racial harassment forum and also sat on the AVI.

He told the tribunal Miss Baldwin was "a breath of fresh air" but was on a collision course with the council. He said: "She was destined to encounter serious difficulties with the council because they were not willing to take criticism, especially from an internal source."

The hearing continues.