Why GOB owes compensation to family of Danny Conorquie

Published by Patrick Jones at October 31, 2014

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Posted: Friday, October 31, 2014. 8:47 pm CST.

Danny Conorquie

Friday, October 31, 2014. AARON HUMES Reporting: On Thursday Prime Minister Dean Barrow confirmed that an offer to the family of late Special Constable Danny Conorquie has been made and is being offered.

The exact figure is not known but we are told it is on the low end of six figures, and takes into account his youth, both in age and status with the Police Department, future potential earnings and heroic nature of death.

Dickie Bradley

Today we spoke with attorney Richard “Dickie” Bradley who reminds that this is no benevolent gesture like that offered to a Guatemalan family after their patriarch died – it is a tacit acknowledgment of the Government’s negligence of security procedure at his workplace, the Caracol Archaeological Site that caused the conditions leading to his death.

According to Bradley, the young constable was not properly backed by the Belize Defence Force, their complaints of vehicle problems notwithstanding, which made him a vulnerable target.

On general rules to do with compensation for incidents like these, Bradley says that agents of the Government – like the Police and Belize Defence Force – are liable for their actions through the Government of Belize and not individually.

But that makes them no less culpable in a given situation.

The Government is ultimately responsible for the actions of all who work for it in law enforcement, to varying amounts.

Other recent payouts include more than $200,000 to victims of the Gang Suppression Unit on George Street in 2012; hundreds of thousands to three accused of murder and detained in San Pedro, and the case of Allyson Major which went to court on Thursday where he is seeking damages for unlawful detention over a firearm.

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