Britain's tiny Caribbean territory of the Cayman Islands has been rocked by the suspension of its most senior police officials, including the commissioner, while British Metropolitan Police officers investigate the local force.
Governor Stuart Jack has placed the islands' police commissioner, Stuart Kernohan, deputy commissioner Rudolph Dixon and detective chief superintendent John Jones on paid 'required leave'.
The governor and British investigators have refused to reveal the reasons behind the high-level suspensions, although the head of the nine-member Scotland Yard team said the three were not under investigation 'at this moment in time'.
All the governor and the veteran Scotland Yard detective in charge of the investigation, detective chief superintendent Martin Bridger, will say is that matters leading to the suspensions came to light while another investigation was taking place into allegations that a local newspaper proprietor was colluding with another senior officer - not one of the three suspended - who is currently on voluntary leave.
In that case, an employee of the Cayman Net News, one of the islands' three newspapers, has been arrested and charged with a number of offences, including perverting the administration of public justice, falsely accusing another of a crime, making a false report of the commission of an offence and burglary, arising from an alleged break-in at his boss's office.
The employee, Lyndon Martin, is a former member of the Legislative Assembly - a body similar to Hong Kong's Legislative Council.
