$2m awarded to boy abused at St Ann's

A 16-year-old boy who was being bullied while at the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital, and was ordered by the court into the custody of the Children’s Authority in 2017, will receive $2 million in compensation from the State.

The compensation warded is to be held on trust for the child’s benefit until he turns 18. The authority, the child’s mother and a child advocate from the Solicitor General’s Department will be responsible for administering the fund.

A judge ordered that the arrangements for the setting up of and the execution of the trust are to be approved by the court in six months.

Anand Ramlogan,SC, Alvin Pariagsingh, Ganesh Saroop and Jared Jagroo, who represented the child and his mother, filed the case complaining of his detention at the hospital.

The attorneys, in 2017, had sought an injunction on the mother's behalf to stop her child from being bullied and sexually abused at the hospital and Justice Avason Quinlan-Williams ordered that he be moved from there and put in the care and control of the authority.

The child’s case proceeded before Quinlan-Williams, who on July 12, ruled in his favour and ordered compensation.