Police sued over $155M for leaving girl, 14, in lockup

Feb 17, 2022 News

Attorney General (AG), Anil Nandlall, SC.

Commissioner of Police, Nigel Hoppie.

Kaieteur News – A legal proceeding has been initiated against the Commissioner of Police, Nigel Hoppie; Attorney General (AG), Anil Nandlall, SC, and two police ranks in relation to the 14-year-old girl that was left in police custody for days where she endured inhumane and adult-like accommodation.
Recently, a lawsuit was initiated against, Ann Greene, in her capacity as Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) and the agency. They are being sued for in excess of $25 million for neglecting the 14-year-old girl in police custody. The AG was listed as the third named respondent in that matter – he was listed as a respondent in the matter owing to the fact that CPA is not a statutory body corporate in the statute creating it and, as a consequence, liability for it falls under the purview of the AG, the representative of the State.
In this matter, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) is being sued for in excess of $155 million. The first named respondent is Police Constable Orlando Harris, and the second named respondent is Police Corporal Amelia James. Harris is the rank who reportedly arrested the teen and James is the rank who supervised the detention of the teen at the East La Penitence Police Station, Georgetown.
The top cop was listed as the third named respondent as he is the operational head of the GPF and makes policies, while the Attorney General was sued as an official representative of the State.
According to the court document seen by this publication, at the time of the incident, the claimant was 14 years old. The teen is being represented in the matter by her sister and a friend.
On behalf of the claimant, attorney-at-law Eusi Anderson filed the legal proceedings in the High Court. The claimant is seeking several declarations and total damages in excess of $155 million.
Kaieteur News had reported that the document states that between December 3, and 7, 2020, the minor was held against her will and under arrest at the East La Penitence Police Station in a narcotics investigation – at the time of the arrest, the claimant was 14 years old, 11 months.
The applicant is claiming that she spent five days in the prisoners’ cell at the police station with adult female prisoners. During that time, the document states that the teen was subjected to sleeping in an upright position on a wooden chair, sleeping on a mattress and cardboard on the cold concrete, sexual predatory advances by other prisoners, being foot cuffed to a wooden chair by her ankles for hours and infinite pain and trauma.
It was further stated that Greene and CPA were aware of the aforementioned transgressions except the sexual advances.
On December 7, 2020, a bail application and habeas corpus proceedings in favour of the claimant were filed and heard by the acting Chief Justice, Roxane George-Wiltshire. The Judge had ordered that the minor be released into the custody of Greene and CPA on December 7, 2020. It was further mentioned that Greene and the agency had indicated to the Judge that they were aware of the teen’s detention and had even noted that officers from CPA had visited the teen while she was being kept at the station.
During the hearing, Greene had informed the court that efforts were being made to persuade the Commissioner of Police for the release of the teen into their custody since December 3, 2020.