Held for 49 hours on suspicion of robbery, cop to get $80,000 in compensation

A POLICE officer who was detained by police for 49 hours on suspicion he was involved in the robbery of 14 cases of vodka in 2012, has been awarded $82,085 in compensation by a high court judge.

Justice Nadia Kangaloo yesterday awarded Cpl Keston Garcia a total of $75,000 in compensation, and an additional $7,085 in interest, for the 49 hours he spent in police custody.

The state was also ordered to pay a total of $27,617 in legal costs.

In her ruling yesterday, Kangaloo held that the police did not have reasonable cause to suspect that Garcia committed the alleged offence of robbery.