The mother of a student who lost one of his testicles in a school bullying incident will finally get statements and documents she needs from the police to initiate legal action against the Ministry of Education for negligence.
This follows a ruling by Justice Margaret Mohammed in the San Fernando High Court yesterday that the mother was entitled to access the requested information from the police under her Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) application.
The woman had sought judicial review after the acting Police Commissioner failed to provide her with information requested under the FOIA on the investigation into the bullying incident two years ago at Presentation College, San Fernando.
Her son was attacked by a group of students during school hours on two consecutive days (18 and 19) in November, 2014. In both instances he was kicked in his testicles, resulting in severe injuries to his left testicle which was subsequently removed.
The judge noted that the defendant’s initial response to the claim was that the file, containing all the reports and statements, except the station diary extracts, was in the possession of a policewoman who had since resigned from the Police Service. They said several attempts to reach the retired officer were unsuccessful.
She also noted that after she instructed the defendant in March to file another affidavit detailing further efforts to find the file, it was found and reassigned to another officer, following which the new investigator had to interview, reinterview and take statements from people. When that was completed and the file was submitted, the commissioner then argued that if the documents were disclosed it would prejudice the continuing investigation of the matter and discourage people from voluntarily giving information to the police once they knew their identity would be revealed.
However, the judge found the combined weight of the public interest factors in favour of disclosure in the matter sufficiently outweighed the public interest for non-disclosure. The judge also ordered the commissioner to pay the mother’s costs.