SENIOR Magistrate Judith Pusey yesterday ordered the release of the policeman who was accused of attempting to rob his female colleague of a motor car last week.

The policeman was ordered to be released without charge after the investigating officer told the court that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said it could not proceed against the officer, on the ground that the victim was unable to identify her attackers.

The policeman's lawyer Vincent Wellesley had Monday filed an application asking for the release of his client over the identification issue.

During his application in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Monday, Wellesley said the complainant had told investigators that she would not be able to identify her attackers and that she only pointed out his client when he was held, at which time Police Commissioner Owen Ellington was present.

According to the police, the woman sergeant had pulled up at her gate in Meadowbrook, St Andrew around 8:30 pm when she was accosted by two armed men who demanded the keys to her motor car.

The sergeant, the police said, threw the keys on the ground and as the men tried to retrieve them she opened fire. The men returned the fire and ran leaving the keys.

The robbers, the police said, escaped in a waiting motor car, which was shortly after intercepted by police officers who responded to a 911 call.

Wellesley told the court on Monday that the police had intercepted the wrong car and that the spent shells found on the scene in the attempted robbery did not match the calibre weapon the suspect was held with.

Following yesterday's court order, Wellesley issued a word of caution to police officers who are in the habit of arresting persons without first conducting proper investigations.

"The police must be very careful to investigate matters before they make arrests. They must not be too eager to make an arrest before conducting proper investigation, (now) one of their own has been affected," Wellesley told the Observer.