A female security guard employed to a prominent security firm who was raped and forced to perform oral sex on her assailant while on night duty has been awarded $10 million in damages plus interest after the Supreme Court found that her handlers “failed to have any system in place that contemplated the safety of a female employee deployed to a location alone at night”.

The woman who was a late replacement for an assigned officer, said the incident occurred around midnight, or shortly after, at the location she described as isolated and lonely. According to the female guard, she screamed when the man, upon breaching the guardhouse where she was, told her he was from Flanker and one of St James’ most wanted men. She said while rummaging through her bag the man told her he would kill her if she screamed again. The woman said he then told her to remove her pants. She said when she replied, “Seriously?” he became angry and asked her if she “wah dead”. She said she did what he demanded as she saw the anger in his face and was scared she was going to die. The security guard said she repeatedly pleaded with him not to kill her.

Her assailant was eventually apprehended and placed before the court for the assault which took place in 2018. The female guard, in subsequently suing her employers for negligence, asserted that the firm had breached its duty to her as an employee. She said the entity failed to provide her with adequate personnel support; failed to give her adequate and appropriate equipment to reduce the risk of injury or enable her to defend herself; failed to give her adequate training in self-defence or other security measures, among other things. She further stated that she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a consequence.