COOPER’S PEN LAWSUIT - Nine men sue Gov’t over detention amid demolition of Trelawny homes

Nine men from Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny, who claim that they were rounded up by the police and kept in custody for hours during last week’s controversial demolition exercise in the community, have filed a lawsuit against the Government for breaches of their constitutional rights.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the Supreme Court yesterday by the law firm Donnovan Collins & Company, seeks damages for false imprisonment and assault.

It claimed that about 3 a.m. on August 11, cops assigned to the Falmouth Police Station, armed with high-powered weapons and wearing masks, “burst into” the men’s homes “without reasonable and/or probable cause”.

The lawsuit claims that the men were “wrongfully arrested” and detained for approximately 13 hours without being given any reason for their arrest and detention.

The men charged that they were arrested in circumstances where the same police officers “knew of and/or oversaw the demolition of their homes and personal properties”.

The men claim they were released without any criminal charges after the exercise to demolish their homes was completed “without them being present to assist their families or to try and save any of their personal property”.

“The claimants were released without any question-and-answer or identification parade ... or any other investigative procedure normally used by the police when they have reasonable suspicion that a suspect has committed an offence. They were never given any lawful reason for their arrest and detention,” it contends.

“By these reasons, the claimants suffered unlawful deprivation of their liberty, losses and damage and incurred expenses,” claimed the lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by The Gleaner.

The attorneys argue that the conduct by cops from the Falmouth Police Station were “arbitrary, oppressive and unconstitutional”, entitling the men to aggravated and/or exemplary damages for false imprisonment.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com