Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
A 34-year-old man from San Fernando, who is awaiting trial for murdering a police officer, has been awarded $75,000 in compensation for being beaten by prison officers.
High Court Judge Ricky Rahim ordered the compensation for Kelvin Wallace, of Flamingo Crescent, Pleasantville, after upholding his assault and battery case against the Office of the Attorney General at the end of a brief trial yesterday morning.
According to the evidence, the incident occurred on August 6, 2021, at the Golden Grove State Prison in Arouca, where Wallace has been held on remand since being charged with the crime in 2013.
Wallace claimed that he was in his cell with his fellow inmates when a group of prison officers arrived to search it and others around it.
He claimed that the officers found a mobile phone in another cell before returning to conduct a second search of his cell.
He admitted that he protested after the officers ransacked his personal belongings and scattered the food and snacks that were purchased by his relatives at the prison’s commissary.
He claimed that the officers beat him in the cell before taking him to the toilet area where they beat him again with their fists and batons.
The officers denied any wrongdoing. They claimed that they were attacked by Wallace after they found a cellphone in his belongings and they defended themselves using reasonable force.
Several prisoners, who were housed in neighbouring cells, testified on Wallace’s behalf and confirmed that they witnessed the alleged unprovoked beating.
In determining the case, Justice Rahim noted multiple inconsistencies in the evidence of the prison officers.
He pointed out that two of the officers attempted to change the claims over the roles of their colleagues when they were called upon to testify before him.
He also questioned why the officers did not make official notes of their claim that Wallace initiated the incident by attacking them in the toilet.
“What a tangled web we weave when we try to deceive,” Justice Rahim said.
Stating that the officers had no credibility based on their conduct in the lawsuit, Justice Rahim strongly criticised them for the incident.
“There was a clear abuse of power and oppressive actions by people who took an oath to treat and not mistreat prisoners,” he said.
While assessing the appropriate compensation for Wallace, Justice Rahim pointed out that such incidents, which result in litigation against the State, are too common.
“A strong message should be sent that this must not be tolerated in a civilised society,” he said.
Justice Rahim ordered $40,000 in damages for the pain, suffering and humiliation that Wallace endured.
He ordered $35,000 in exemplary damages based on the conduct of the officers and ordered the State to pay his legal costs for the lawsuit.
Justice Rahim also commended Wallace’s fellow inmates, who chose to testify against the officers despite still being incarcerated.
“Theirs would have been an exceptional act of bravery, they still being incarcerated at the said prison,” he said.
Wallace and three men were charged with murdering Sgt Hayden Manwaring.
On February 19, 2013, 42-year-old Manwaring and his colleague PC Nicholas Philip were responding to a report of a robbery at a fast food outlet at Butler Street in San Fernando, when they were shot.
Manwaring was shot in his stomach and succumbed. Philip was shot in his arm and survived.
One of Wallace’s co-accused died while in prison awaiting trial.
In April 2019, Wallace and his two surviving co-accused were committed to stand trial for the crime at the end of their preliminary enquiry.
Wallace was represented by Lemuel Murphy and Keishel Grant, while the AG’s Office was represented by Che Richards, Raquel Le Blanc, and Justay Guerra.
