Belmont man freed of 2011 murder after 8 years' jail sues the State

A BELMONT man who was acquitted of the murder of a national footballer in Cocorite in 2011 is now suing the State for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.

Attorneys for Abdul Charles, 26, filed the claim on October 8. Attorneys Peter Taylor and Nehanda Samuel are representing him.

Charles spent over eight years in prison before a High Court judge, directed a jury in October 2019 to return a not-guilty verdict in his favour and that of his co-accused at the time.

Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds had upheld a no-case submission which challenged the prosecution’s evidence.

Charles was jointly charged for the January 30, 2011, murder of Muatah Taylor, 20, of Harding Place, Cocorite.

Taylor, a former student of the Mucurapo East Secondary School and a national Under-23 footballer, was ambushed by two men while he and two other friends were in a vehicle on their way home at about 9.30 am.

Charles's claim for compensation for malicious prosecution and wrongful arrest said he was arrested on March 31, 2011, he was arrested on the Western Main Road, St James. He said the officers called him by a name he did not recognise and he told them it was not his name.

His lawsuit claimed after reading his driver’s permit and insurance certificate, one officer asked another, “Is this the right individual?”

They decided to take him to the station to be sure, and Charles was taken to the St James police station.

On April 5, 2011, he was taken to the Port of Spain magistrates court on the murder charge, but insisted he did not know about any murder.

He was subjected to a preliminary inquiry and a trial in the High Court before the judge upheld his no-case submission.

His lawsuit provided a history of the criminal matter including the judge’s reasons for upholding the no-case submission and contended Charles was arrested without reasonable and probable cause, the police failed to properly investigate and he was deprived of his liberty for eight years and five months.