Name mix up in court — State to pay damages

THE State has been ordered to pay damages to a man who spent extra time in prison because of a mix-up with his name.

Sherwin Gilbert, 34, a barber of Carlton Lane, San Fernando, was mistaken for Kerwyn Gilbert, another man for whom a warrant for arrest was issued by a High Court judge. In a writ against the State for wrongful detention, Gilbert (Sherwin) stated that he was jailed for a month for failure to pay a court fine. But upon the end of the jail term on July 31, 1998, Gilbert was informed that he had to be further detained on a bench warrant issued by Justice Herbert Volney.

Gilbert stated that he protested his further incarceration but was taken from the Frederick Street prison to Golden Grove to begin serving the extra jail term. He was then released on September 18, 1998, after his attorney filed a habeas corpus application. When hearing of the writ came up yesterday before Justice Maureen Rajnauth Lee, State attorneys consented to a judgment in favour of Gilbert. It was ordered that damages be assessed by a Master of the High Court for Gilbert’s false imprisonment between July 31, 1998 to September 18.