A 57-year-old man from Arima, who was detained for nine hours by police officers who claimed he was engaging in prostitution, has been awarded $50,000 in compensation.
High Court Judge Kevin Ramcharan ordered the compensation for Marshall Eneau, of Malabar, Arima, as he upheld his false imprisonment case against the State on Thursday afternoon.
Justice Ramcharan ruled that the officers did not have reasonable and probable cause to detain Eneau.
“There was no evidence that he was engaged in any activity relating to prostitution, or any other offence at all,” he said.
According to his court filings, around 2.45 am on October 30, 2019, Eneau dropped a person off along Blanchisseuse Road in Arima and was returning home.
Eneau claimed that he diverted through a Housing Development Corporation (HDC) housing development as he had a pending application for a house and was interested in the area.
He was stopped by two police officers, who searched his car and arrested him.
Eneau claimed that despite his protests the officers did not indicate the reason for his arrest.
He was taken to the Arima Police Station where he was detained in a holding cell before being released without being charged, the following day.
He claimed that while the officers took $487 from his wallet upon his arrest, only $167 was returned upon his release.
Eneau claimed that he only learned the officers’ alleged reason for his arrest after he filed the lawsuit and the Office of the Attorney General filed its defence.
“I was shocked by the allegations made against me, where it states that I was arrested along with another woman under the suspicion of prostitution and aiding and abetting the offence of prostitution,” Eneau said in his witness statement.
He claimed that he was alone when he was stopped by the officers but admitted that there was already a woman in the police vehicle when he was handcuffed and placed inside.
In the case, Eneau’s lawyer Abdel Mohammed claimed that his client’s constitutional rights were breached by the officers.
As part of his decision in the case, Justice Ramcharan ordered the State to pay Eneau’s legal costs for pursuing it.
The AG’s Office was represented by Kezia Redhead.