$250k for labourer over illegal detention

The State has admitted liability and agreed to compensate a Gasparillo labourer who was arrested and held for seven days for a beating incident he had nothing to do with.

At what would have been the start of the trial before Justice Christopher Sieuchand on January 15, attorneys for the State conceded.

The labourer will now receive $250,000 as a full and final settlement, inclusive of interest and costs.

Police arrested him on August 26, 2015, while he was leaving a job site where he and six others were hired to recast the floor of a policeman’s house in Whiteland.

The labourer said some of the other workmen were arguing with the foreman, identified only as Mr Chinee, over a directive to remain at the site to finish the job for double pay. The labourer said they refused the offer and demanded their pay for the day’s work which was refused by the foreman and the home owner.

He said one of the other workers slapped the foreman, who retreated to his car, while another pulled him out and others joined in slapping and kicking the foreman.

The labourer maintained he had nothing to do with the altercation. After he left, he was arrested a short distance away and taken to the Gasparillo Police Station.

He said he was taken into a “very stink and nasty” cell and was not told why he was arrested nor was he allowed to contact an attorney or give a statement.

The labourer said two days later, then Insp Roger Alexander, former host of the police’s Beyond the Tape Programme, visited the station and interviewed two workmen, on camera, who verified that he (the labourer) had nothing to do with the altercation.

On September 1, he was taken to the San Fernando Police Station and put in another filthy cell for an identification parade. He said the other two workers were put on the parade but he was not, yet still remained in custody before he was released on September 3 without charge.

He said during his 192-hour-long detention, he was never told he was a suspect in the foreman’s beating nor did he fit the description of the men who were involved.

He also said the home’s owner was present when the foreman was assaulted and knew he was not involved. The labourer said since the incident, he has been unable to get work.

“I have absolutely no trust and confidence in the Police Service and I am fearful that the police can come and lock me up again for an offence which I never committed.”

He also said the airing of his detention on Beyond the Tape embarrassed and humiliated him and he is still labelled a “criminal” by strangers.

In filings in defence of the labourer’s claim, the police officer who arrested him said in an affidavit that she was given the descriptions of three men who attacked the foreman.

While searching for the men who ran off, she said she saw them walking along Whiteland Road. WPC Noel said the men were told of the assault report, arrested and cautioned. She said two of the men, during their detention, told her the labourer “had nothing to do with the beating.”

“I informed them that the claimant could not be released because the victim had initially said that three men had beaten him.”

She said she tried four times to get a medical certificate for the victim and that it took time to get people matching the suspects’ descriptions for the identification parade.

Noel said the labourer was not detained longer than necessary and was released after the victim identified his two attackers.

She also said she did not know about Alexander’s visit to the station. Abdel Mohammed and Shania Sinanan represented the labourer while Rachael Jacob appeared for the State.