COP GETS $343,000

A POLICE constable who spent more than four years on suspension without facing criminal charges or disciplinary proceedings has been awarded more than $340,000 in damages after the High Court ruled that his continued suspension was unlawful and had effectively become a penalty.

Justice Margaret Mohammed yesterday quashed the decision to suspend PC Miguel Jaikaran Singh, declaring that the Commissioner of Police had acted unlawfully in suspending him in January 2022 and failing to review the suspension at regular intervals.

Singh, who was attached to the now-defunct Special Operations Response Team (SORT) when he was suspended, had been receiving his full salary but lost several allowances during the period. The judge awarded him $263,802.56 for the allowances he lost, together with $80,000 for non-pecuniary loss arising from the suspension—a grand total of $343.802.56.