Damages toward prison reform fund

The fund - which can be administered by the court or an NGO or charity - will divert State funds towards ‘positive and therapeutic programmes’ which will serve to benefit both prisoners and prison guards, Justice Vasheist Kokaram said.

The novel approach to the award of exemplary damages was articulated by Justice Kokaram who held that the beating of five prisoners at the Remand Yard of the Golden Grove Prison in Arouca on June 16, 2015, by a number of prison officers carrying out a search of the cell block was unlawful and unjustified.

He ordered that each prisoner will receive damages to compensate for the injuries they sustained during the beating.

Jason Raymond will receive $65,000, Marvin Scott will receive $75,000, Ryan Stephens will receive $70,000, Christopher Lewis will receive $70,000 and Junior Collins will receive $55,000.

In keeping with his ruling of a split award of exemplary damages, Justice Kokaram ordered a total sum of $250,000; one third of which will be divided among the five prisoners and two thirds (or $166,667) will be paid into the court for the Prison Reform Fund.

Attorneys for the prisoners and the State have three months in which to advise the court of the options or programmes available to give effect to the judge’s order and if they fail to do so, the money put aside for the Fund will go back to the prisoners, half of which will be paid immediate and the other half when they are released or within two years.

“As a matter of policy, for a small society witnessing unprecedented levels of violence and crime, every effort must not be spared in ensuring that our prisons are not a breeding ground for further violent and aggressive behaviour.

The violence that is bred within those walls quite easily spill out. The degree of institutional violence is a direct product of prison conditions and how the State operates its prisons,” he noted.

“Of course, overcrowding and inadequate facilities simply make violence inevitable,” he added. He has also suggested that Parliament introduce legislation to give effect to the split in exemplary damages, but he noted that there was nothing preventing the courts from making such an order in future cases.

“The Courts have repeatedly called for change in the approach in the prisons,” Justice Kokaram noted. Representing the five prisoners were attorneys Gerald Ramdeen and Darryl Heeralal while Senior Counsel Fyard Hosein, Rishi Dass and Gitanjali Gopeesingh appeared for the Attorney General.