Trinidad court awards damages to man detained in alleged plot to disrupt 2018 Carnival celebrations

A High Court judge has awarded more than TT$200,000 in compensation to a man who was wrongfully arrested, falsely imprisoned for seven days, and assaulted by police officers as they investigated an alleged plot to disrupt Carnival celebrations in 2018.

“The police executed a search that yielded no incriminating evidence yet proceeded to arrest and detain the claimant for seven days based solely on instructions from superiors,” Justice Robin Mohammed ruled, noting that the case was not one in which police had acted in good faith on a mistaken identity.

The judge found that Tariq Mohammed was wrongfully arrested, falsely imprisoned and assaulted by police officers who raided his home in San Juan, on the outskirts of the capital, in the early hours of February 8, 2018.

He awarded Mohammed TT$145,000 in general damages and TT$40,000 in exemplary damages and also ordered the state to pay TT$18,194.52 in pre-judgment interest and TT$39,479.17 in prescribed costs.

In his 54-page judgment, the judge said that the police failed to justify Mohammed’s continued detention after the initial investigation produced no evidence against him.

“The failure to do so renders the seven-day detention wholly unlawful,” the judge added.

Mohammed was detained as police probed reports of an alleged plan to disrupt Carnival celebrations through the use of explosives.

Mohammed told the court that police officers forcibly entered his home, restrained him and his father with tie-straps, and began searching before showing them the warrants.

No firearms or ammunition were found, but electronic devices were seized.

After the search, officers took Mohammed to the police station for questioning.

He was eventually moved between police stations until February 14, when he was released without charge.

The state, in defending the claim, maintained that the police had acted on credible intelligence from local and foreign security agencies about a potential threat to national security.

The state argued that Mohammed had voluntarily accompanied officers for questioning and that his detention was justified while investigations continued.

However, Justice Mohammed found that the state had failed to produce adequate contemporaneous records showing what investigative steps justified keeping Mohammed in custody throughout the seven days.

The judge noted that a senior police officer, who was involved in the investigation, acknowledged under cross-examination that no such documents had been produced.

The court also found that the state had withheld critical video evidence of Mohammed’s interviews despite a Freedom of Information request.

The outcome of the case came a little over a year after Tariq’s younger brother, Wasim, was awarded TT$100,000 in compensation over his treatment by police officers. The officers searched an apartment shared by Mohammed’s younger brother and his wife before searching the area of the property shared by Mohammed, his wife and his parents.

“I accept that these sudden, forceful, invasive and intrusive actions left the claimant vulnerable and constituted an imminent and hostile threat to the claimant,” he said, noting that “the presence of a larger audience of family members, particularly young children, compounded the humiliation, embarrassment, and indignity suffered.”

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.