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High Court awards West Demerara man $1.6M over wrongful arrest
(Kaieteur News) – The High Court has awarded West Bank Demerara man $1.6M worth in compensatory damages for unlawful arrest and detention.
According to court documents seen by this publication, Justice Simone Morris awarded Mikhail Miggins of La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara the sum after she determined that his arrest by members of the Guyana Police Force was unlawful and a contravention of his fundamental right not to be deprived of his personal liberty.
The judge found too that Miggin’s detention at the Parfaite Harmonie Police Station from the 4th to 18th November, 2024 was in contravention of his fundamental right not to be deprived of his personal liberty as guaranteed by Article 139 of the Constitution.
Miggin’s case states that on the 14th November 2024, the police visited his home to effect an arrest of his brother. He said while making inquiries about the discharge of a firearm by the police during the arrest, Corporal Greene slapped his phone out of his hand and placed him along with his brother in the police vehicle and took them to the Wales Police Station.
While at that police station, he continued to inquire regarding the shooting of his brother and Corporal Green instructed other ranks to lock him up for disorderly behaviour and obstructing the police. He stated that the police then took away his cellular phone, ordered him back into the police vehicle and took him to the Parfaite Police Station.
Miggins advanced in his claim before the court that he was detained at that police station until the 18th November, 2024 when he was placed before the court. He said during his period in custody, no allegation of the commission of an offence was put to him.
He testified that, upon appearing before Magistrate Weever, a summary charge of fraudulent conversion was read to him. He noted that the magistrate observed that the charge was bad in law and could not be substantiated and that this resulted in the withdrawal of the matter by the prosecutor.
According to the document, Miggins was wanted for the criminal offense of fraudulent conversion. The arrest was triggered by a commercial complaint alleging that the claimant (Miggins) had accepted money for custom furniture set that was never delivered to the buyer.
However, Justice Morris found that the underlying dispute was strictly a private, civil matter regarding a breach of contract, rather than a criminal act.
In her assessment of the financial compensation, the judge rejected Miggins’ auxiliary demands for damages relating to assault, battery, malicious prosecution, and the unlawful deprivation of property, citing insufficient evidence to support those specific claims.
She noted however that the evidence, Miggins was kept in police custody for four days without justification, there was no evidence suggesting he posed a flight risk, nor was there any plausible reason to deny him standard station bail during the initial hours of his detention.
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