Former prime minister Dom Mintoff’s driver will finally be awarded a police service clasp medal for long-standing service to the country after the ombudsman ruled he had “suffered an injustice.”

The ombudsman’s decision to uphold the complaint of police constable Robert Mercieca, who also served as Mintoff’s security detail, was met with agreement from the home affairs minister and the police commissioner.

This means that Mercieca is now set to finally receive his medal almost 10 years after a traffic accident, which had rendered the constable ineligible for the award.

Mercieca, who had filed the complaint to the ombudsman in October 2019, was not given the ‘long service and efficiency’ medal due to an on-duty traffic accident that left a third party injured.

The medal, which is normally given to police officers who served for 18 years, had been refused to Mercieca due to the accident in question.

The accident occurred in March 2012. In the subsequent investigation, the court of magistrates had declaredMercieca guilty, with the Public Service Commission denying him the possibility of receiving the medal.

After several formal appeals to then-police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar as well as the Office of the Prime Minister, Mercieca eventually sought out the ombudsman’s office in order to have his complaint addressed.

The ombudsman’s investigation over the past two years concluded that Mercieca’s otherwise spotless track record superseded the consideration given to the traffic accident.

“Mintoff’s daughter had confirmed that Mercieca enjoyed her father’s trust and was not merely his security officer. He attended to his needs outside office hours in a considerate and discreet manner,” the report reads.

The ombudsman also argued that the suspended one-year sentence Mercieca had been given as a result of negligence in the 2012 accident had elapsed by the time the complainant was eligible for the service medal.