Officer caught in love triangle sobs after being cleared of misconduct

A police sergeant on Tuesday buried her face in her hands and sobbed after a jury cleared her of misconduct charges over allegations she misused police computer records to gather evidence on a love rival.

Keren Watson, 44, burst into tears and mouthed a silent prayer as the Grand Court jury returned its majority not guilty verdict after an earlier deadlock.

Justice Cheryll Richards told her, “You are discharged on the indictment. You are free to go.”

The decision ended a four-and-half year nightmare for the officer, whose record was said in court to be outstanding.

Watson, who has been suspended for two years and had a potential promotion to inspector put on hold, said outside the court that she was grateful for the support she had received and to defence counsel Amelia Fosuhene, who had “worked exceptionally well and hard”.

The officer, who wiped away tears, added, “I’m ready to go back to work.”

The 5-1 majority verdict came after more than three hours of deliberation and a deadlock in the jury of three men and three women.

Fosuhene said outside the courtroom that the investigation was badly carried out and malicious and that the verdict was the correct one.

Fosuhene added, “One thing that is clear is that she has been put through the system and a slapdash investigation.

“It’s just not good enough; the police need to do better.”

Watson thanked the jury and said that it had been “a long three weeks and it could not have been easy for them either”.

She also paid tribute to her husband for his support and thanked colleagues who had “been there throughout this entire four-and-a-half years”.

Watson was cleared after a trial in which it was claimed she committed misconduct in public office between July 2019 and July 2020.

She was alleged to have gathered information on the other woman, a prison officer described in court to be a rival for a male colleague.

Fosuhene, who appeared for the defence, said outside the court, “She has been on suspension for two years on the word of two people who were liars and cheaters – a man, who by his own admission, was sleeping with four or five women at one time.”

The public gallery had at least eight police officers in it, six of them in uniform, some of them of the same rank as Watson, when the verdict was announced.

They were among the crowd of well-wishers that hugged and congratulated Watson as she walked free from the dock.

Watson, a Jamaican national, joined the Cayman police service in 2012 and earned several commendations.

She was accused of accessing records that contained another woman’s details to gather ammunition against her.

Watson also denied that she had asked a friend who worked at Digicel to check numbers used by her rival and love interest to see how often they were in contact with each other.

Earl Pinnock, who appeared for the Crown, said that Watson had been jealous of the woman and had used her position to gain information to spread rumours about her.

The woman complained to the Ombudsman that Watson had passed details about her to other people, although she refused to identify them in court and an investigation was launched.

Police were asked for comment on Fosuhene’s view that the police investigation into Watson had been poorly handled.

They were also asked if Watson would be restored to her rank and role and whether her interrupted promotion process would restart.

The service failed to answer the questions.

A spokeswoman said, “We are aware of the verdict but it would be inappropriate at this time to discuss personnel matters of this magnitude publicly and without the benefit of PS Watson being afforded this opportunity.”