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He moved his wife Samantha and their five children down to Kent from Preston after receiving a promise of permanent work on one of Europe's most prestigious construction projects, and was settling down to his new career in the industry.

Nothing untoward happened until the 11 September terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, which changed the working atmosphere. After that, he suffered terrible racial abuse. He told the tribunal that every time his supervisor Paul Greenside spoke to him he would say "Paki-this and Paki-that".

The tribunal heard that another supervisor Steffan Howlett later joined in the abuse.

Being a Pakistani Muslim, Najjif, 29, shared the same religion as the Afghanistan Taliban regime and it was this that made working on the site intolerable.

Najjif's wife Samantha, who was pregnant at the time of the abuse, describes her husband as a quiet, passive man who does not look for trouble. This, she says, made the situation even more difficult to understand. "We at first thought it was incredible and we couldn't believe that they were accusing him of being a spy for Osama bin Laden – then it dawned on us how terrible it was. We were very upset, but then very angry," she says.

She adds that the racial bullying had a catastrophic effect on him and all of the family. "It affected everything in his life: his eating, his sleeping and even his intimate relations."

Samantha says that they were both constantly upset and depressed and that she begged him to just leave the site. But she says her husband is a proud man who did not want to just walk away – that is, until the situation became unbearable.

The final straw came for Najjif after he reported the abuse to Skanska's foreman on the site.

We couldn’t believe that they were accusing him of being a spy for Osama bin Laden

Samantha Shah

As well as racial abuse, he was victimised for being a "grass" by his direct supervisors. He was told to clean out the site toilets – and at this point began to fear for his safety.

He says: "My worry was that there was a lot of resentment towards me on the site because I had reported the abuse. I was worried because we lived quite locally and because I thought they may have been able to find out my address by seeing one of my payslips."

It was at this point that Shah decided that it was time to leave his job and his house in Kent.

Shah moved Samantha and his children back to his hometown of Preston almost immediately after walking off the site in the morning of 13 November 2001.

He says that the fear for his own and his family's safety added to the devastating psychological effect the intimidation had on his family's well-being. Samantha explains: "We tried to explain what was happening to my nine-year-old daughter. The most heart-wrenching moment came when she said: 'But why are they saying those things, mummy? Aren't we all the same inside?'"

Samantha adds: "I just had to try to explain to her that I wished everybody had the same brains as she has, and that if they did, the world would be a better place."

Najjif has now been unemployed for 10 months and is seeking any kind of work to help to clear his debts – he still hasn't received any of the £18,575 he was awarded by the tribunal.