Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
The State has been ordered to pay over $3 million in compensation for breaching the constitutional rights of a pair of siblings from Diego Martin, who were remanded to adult prison facilities after being charged with murder along with two adults.
In May 2021, the United Kingdom-based Privy Council upheld the final appeal of Sasha and Brian Seepersad and remitted the issue of compensation to the local courts.
The compensation was assessed by High Court Judge Margaret Mohammed on Tuesday.
In her judgment, Justice Mohammed was highly critical of the State’s failure to properly accommodate them while they were minors.
Stating that the court had to register its disgust for the State’s conduct, Justice Mohammed said, “The Defendant must be punished for such appalling conduct and the Court must send a strong message in order to deter the Defendants, their servants and/or agents from repeating the conduct as was demonstrated in this action.”
“In my view, it is shocking that this appalling conduct was committed by the State which has a legal obligation to protect all minors,” she added.
In January 2014, the siblings, a 16-year-old boy, and 18-year-old Stefan Frederick were charged with robbing and murdering 54-year-old Dulraj Boyan Deodath.
Deodath was bludgeoned to death at his Sea Trace, Bagatelle, home, and was robbed of a $150,000 truck, a leaf blower, jewellery and cash.
At the time, Sasha was 16 and her brother was 12 years old.
They were detained at the Arouca Women’s Prison and the Youth Training Centre (YTC) for sixteen months before Brian was transferred to the St Michael’s School for Boys in Diego Martin.
His sister was briefly detained at the St Jude’s Home for Girls.
The siblings, through their lawyers led by Anand Ramlogan, SC, of Freedom Law Chambers, filed a lawsuit alleging that the Children’s Act and other legislation related to children’s rights required that minors facing trial for criminal offences be housed in community residences designed to cater specifically to their needs.
After their case was initially upheld by Justice Vasheist Kokaram, Brian was transferred to a community residence in Port-of-Spain that was established by the State.
He was eventually returned to YTC when he turned 16 in 2017.
In 2018, the Court of Appeal considered their case and upheld Justice Kokaram’s ruling that their detention contravened the Children’s Act.
However, the Appeal Court overruled his findings on their constitutional rights breaches and the $450,000 compensation he ordered.
In 2019, Brian was among a group of five inmates at the YTC, who managed to escape.
Several months later, he was killed in an alleged shoot-out with police at a house in Morvant.
The siblings’ mother was permitted to continue the case on his behalf and will now collect the compensation awarded to him, this week, based on the Privy Council reversal of the Court of Appeal’s decision on damages.
In assessing the appropriate compensation for the siblings, Justice Mohammed decided on $850,000 in compensatory damages for Brian and $730,000 for his sister.
Her assessment was mainly based on the siblings’ lengthy detention in “oppressive and appalling” conditions at prison facilities with adults.
She also noted that the siblings were exposed to sexual assault by fellow inmates.
“The effect of the Defendant’s failure meant that Brian was exposed to sexual abuse during his detention which violated his innocence as a minor and Sasha’s innocence was also violated as she was constantly being threatened with sexual abuse by adult inmates,” she said.
“Brian’s bodily integrity was compromised and his innocence perverted by being forced to shower naked in front of adults despite requests for the prison officers to move,” she added.
Justice Mohammed also noted that Sasha was beaten by a group of prison officers at the Women’s Prison and filed a separate case, which is still pending.
She also noted that Sasha was not allowed to practice her religious belief as a Muslim.
“Sasha was dealing with a very challenging environment in her long detention and the failure to make arrangements for Sasha to practice her religious beliefs meant that she did not even have spiritual guidance and hope,” she said.
She ruled that Brian and Sasha were entitled to $1 million and $500,000 in vindicatory damages, respectively, to highlight the egregious conduct of the State.
“In this regard, a significant award for vindicatory damages is necessary in order to register the Court’s disapproval for the Defendant’s conduct and to act as a deterrence and to punish the Defendant,” she said.
She also criticised the State for transferring the siblings to St Michael’s and St Jude’s despite knowing that both facilities did not meet the standards of a community residence based on a report published in 2015.
“Yet the Defendants knowingly intentionally and deliberately chose to disregard the findings of the 2015 report and did nothing to address the conditions Brian and Sasha were kept in at those facilities,” she said.
As part of her judgment, Justice Mohammed ordered the State to pay the siblings’ legal costs for the case.
The siblings were also represented by Renuka Rambhajan, Jayanti Lutchmedial, Ganesh Saroop, and Natasha Bisram.
Amrita Ramsook represented the Office of the Attorney General.