A Police officer suspended on full pay for more than two years has lost a legal battle but will not have to pay costs, a judge has ruled.

Puisne Judge Ian Kawaley told Supreme Court Two that although Anthony Dexter Thomas failed in his bid to be allowed legal representation at an internal disciplinary hearing his case had highlighted the fact that changes to the law might be needed.

Mr. Thomas ? who is from Trinidad and Tobago ? asked for permission to leave Bermuda in June 2004, while suspended from Bermuda Police Service, and was verbally refused by the Acting Police Commissioner Carlton Adams.

He left the Island and was arrested on his way back from Trinidad and charged under the Police (Discipline) Orders 1975.

After he was refused permission to be legally represented at an internal disciplinary hearing, Mr. Thomas obtained a ?stay? from the Supreme Court, which halted the proceedings in December 2004.

On his behalf, the Police Association instructed lawyer Delroy Duncan to seek a judicial review of the Police Commissioner?s decision not to allow him to have a lawyer present.

Last week, Mr. Justice Kawaley found that the Commissioner?s decision was lawful and lifted the stay, meaning the internal disciplinary proceedings can be concluded.

But the judge said the case had identified potential conflicts between existing disciplinary procedures and the rights of accused Police officers to a fair hearing under the Bermuda Constitution.

He told the court: ?Although the technical result is in fact in favour of the Commissioner the court has acknowledged that there are difficulties within the legislative framework.?

He said those difficulties might need to be addressed by legislative action or further court action. ?It seems to me to be well argued that where there is a risk of dismissal there should be a discretion to have legal representation.?

Mr. Thomas, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, joined Bermuda Police Force in 2000 and was suspended from duty in May 2004 after being accused of assault during an incident involving other Police officers, a charge which was later dismissed in Magistrates? Court.

While suspended, he asked for permission to leave the Island in June 2004 to return to his home country for his daughter?s graduation and other personal matters.

Mr. Adams refused the request because of concerns that he was a flight risk at a time when the Director of Public Prosecutions was considering criminal charges against him.

Mr. Thomas left Bermuda and was arrested in Puerto Rico while returning to the Island in July 2004.

Mr. Justice Kawaley said in his written ruling that it was not ideal for Police officers to delay internal hearings in such a way.

?The public purse should not have to bear the costs of paying an officer on suspension without receiving any service from him in return for periods as long as (in the present case) more than two years.?

But he added that the judicial review had raised broader ?issues of import? such as whether a blanket ban on legal representation was inconsistent with the fair trial rights enshrined in the Bermuda Constitution.

He said he hoped the Governor of Bermuda, in consultation with the Police Commissioner and the Police Association, would consider whether the police disciplinary procedure needed revising.