Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry has ordered the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to pay $10.5 million in damages for the unlawful arrest and detention of a man, his two minor sons and his brother.
Among the persons who the court said were unjustifiably detained by the police was Storm Fausette’s then five-year-old child. No one was ever charged for any offence.
Through their attorney, Anastasia Sanford, the claimants—Storm Fausette, Shaquille Fausette, five-year-old Shakeif Fausette and Daryl Medas—argued that the police had unlawfully and unjustifiably arrested them and that they sought aggravated/exemplary damages in excess of $10 million for false imprisonment and a declaration that their fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 139(1), 141 and 142 the Constitution were violated.
They also sought damages for wrongful deprivation of liberty, unlawful deprivation of property and inhuman and degrading punishment.
The action was filed against the Attorney General, the Commissioner of Police–in the person of Leslie James–Detective Watson and Officer Semple, who were all represented by attorney Leslyn Noble.
In an affidavit supporting his claim, Storm said that on January 30th, 2018, he was making his way home with his sons when he was stopped by police, who searched him and his son Shaquille, while five-year-old Shakeif remained in their car.
Storm said that his vehicle was subsequently searched and noted that none of the searches unearthed anything of evidential value.
He was then ordered by the police to recount his movement for the day, after which he was instructed to drive to the home of his brother, Medas, from where he had earlier picked up his sons after taking them there from school.
Storm related that upon arrival, his brother’s home and car were also searched as was Medas and two male occupants of the home. Those searches, he said, also revealed nothing of evidential value. He said, however, that the police at that point seized their cellphones.
Storm said that it was a while after that he had been reluctantly allowed by the police to take his five-year-old to his grandmother, just before he, his older son Shaquille and Medas were all placed in the lockup of the Diamond Police Station.
‘No reasonable suspicion’
According to court documents, Storm said that when they enquired as to the reason they were being detained, the police gave varying answers, such as “it was a normal stop and search,” “police got dem wuk to do” and “it is a pending investigation.”
He said that when Medas enquired why his home had been searched without a warrant, the police responded, “we is de police and we could search ya house” and “we got orders from the bigger ones to search this house.”
Storm said that requests to contact their lawyer had been denied until late the same night. They deposed that the lawmen behaved in a most “disrespectful, uncouth and unprofessional manner.”
Storm said that while Shaquille was released on bail the following day, he and Medas were not released until February 1st, even as he noted that they were never charged for any offence.
In her ruling of October 5th, 2020, Justice Sewnarine-Beharry said that the court had to determine two issues—whether the claimants’ fundamental rights were contravened; and if so, what measure of damages should be awarded.
On the first issue, the judge began by defining false imprisonment, which she said arises where a person is detained against his will without legal justification. She said that while the respondents never attended trial, their purported justification for arresting and detaining the claimants was found in their defence. She said the police contended that due to a spree of robberies committed on persons leaving the Scotia Bank, Robb Street branch, the area was under surveillance by ranks from the Special Branch Unit and that when persons are seen acting in a suspicious manner, ranks will trail their vehicle and relate the information to the operations room, which would then relate the information to the closest patrol in the vicinity.
The patrol, the police said in their defence, would then intercept the suspected persons/vehicles and conduct searches on them, their vehicles and homes and they would then be detained, profiled, interviewed and possibly placed on an identification parade.
The police deposed that on the day in question, ranks from the Special Branch were conducting surveillance on Scotia Bank, Robb Street, when Storm and the occupants of his vehicle were seen “acting in a suspicious manner.”
The police said that as a result of the surveillance, the vehicle was trailed and intercepted at Industrial Site Ruimveldt.
Justice Sewnarine-Beharry said the defence and witness statements of police officers involved in the case were completely devoid of any facts upon which reasonable suspicion could have been inferred either objectively or subjectively by the police.
Further, the judge said that the failure of the respondents to appear at trial to cross-examine the claimants left the evidence of the claimants uncontradicted.
Against this background, the judge said she found that the police had failed to establish reasonable suspicion to justify the detention and arrest of the claimants and, therefore, the acts were unlawful and deprived them of their liberty and made them subject to inhuman and degrading punishment.
In the circumstances, the judge said she found the Fausettes’ and Medas’ fundamental rights guaranteed in Articles 139(1), 141 and 142 to have been contravened by the police.
Having found the claimants to have been unlawfully arrested and detained, the court then turned its attention to the measure of damages to be awarded.
Relying on case law authority on quantum to be awarded, Justice Sewnarine-Beharry made awards.
Compensatory damages were awarded in the sum of $1 million each to Storm, Shaquille and Medas and in the sum $500,000 to Shakeif for the breach of their right to personal liberty.
The judged noted that the five-year-old was being awarded half a million dollars here given that his period of detention was less than the other claimants but significant since he is a minor. The judge said that undoubtedly the child would have been traumatised seeing the police arrest his father and brother.
Storm, Shaquille and Medas were also awarded compensatory damages in the sum of $500,000 each for unlawful deprivation of property; with Storm and Medas being given an additional $1 million dollar each for violation of their right to protection from inhuman treatment.
For this right of Shaquille’s being violated the judge awarded him $500,000 since he spent only one night in the lockups in contrast to the two spent by his father and uncle.
Exemplary damages were, however, awarded to all three of them—Storm Shaquille and Medas in the sum of $1 million each.
Justice Sewnarine-Beharry said the court found that the compensatory damages awarded were inadequate to punish and deter what she called the “outrageous” conduct of the police, thus finding that an award of exemplary damages was most appropriate “to condemn the oppressive, arbitrary and unconstitutional” acts of the police.
The judge quoted from the case of Mustapha Ghanny vs. Police Constable Dev Ramadhin No 16969 et al Claim No. CV 2015-01921, noting, “the duty of courts in a democracy which subscribes to the recognition, protection and enforcement of basic standards of treatment of its citizens, requires condemnation of high handed and oppressive actions behaviour and conduct of the servants or agents of the State lest they be condoned, encouraged systematized and perpetuated.”
Apart from the award of damages, the court also imposed costs in the sum of $250,000 which has to be paid jointly/severally to the claimants by the respondents no later than November 18th.
