Man wins lawsuit against the Government for false imprisonment

A man who spent five days in police custody after three members of his family were killed by gunmen has won a lawsuit against the Government for false imprisonment and a breach of his constitutional rights.

A default judgment was handed down in the lawsuit filed by Kemau Scott after the Supreme Court rejected an application by attorneys for the Government requesting more time to file a defence to the claim.

Donnovan Collins, the attorney representing Scott, says the court is to schedule a hearing for the assessment of damages to be awarded to his client.

Scott was “wrongfully” arrested “without probable cause” around 6 a.m. on January 21, 2022 by cops investigating a triple murder in Bounty Hall, Trelawny, the lawsuit claimed.

According to the lawsuit, he was released four hours later after he was questioned at the Falmouth Police Station.

However, Scott said he voluntarily returned to the Falmouth Police Station about 4 p.m. that same day after detectives said they wanted to conduct “further questioning”.

The Trelawny man claimed that no additional questions were posed to him.

Instead, Scott claimed he was transported to the Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime division in Kingston and “falsely imprisoned” at the Central Police Station lock-up.

He was released on January 25 without any criminal charge, an explanation or apology.

According to the lawsuit, he was released after cops were notified that his attorney Collins had filed a habeas corpus application in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.

The Government, through the Attorney General's Department, acknowledged receipt of the lawsuit within 14 days after it was filed in July 2022, but failed to file a defence within the 42-day window stipulated by court rules.

In their application for more time to file a defence, lawyers for the Government said they requested additional information from the police in September 2022 and March 2023 after a review of the case revealed that the instructions they received were incomplete.

They acknowledged, citing the responses from the police, that Scott was not considered a suspect “at the material time” as investigators theorised that he and his family were “intended targets” of the early morning attack.

Lawyers for the Government also denied claims that Scott was arrested on the morning of January 21, but acknowledged that he was taken into custody in the afternoon for suspected breaches of the lottery scam law.

Collins opposed the application for an extension of time, arguing that the attorneys for the Government have not provided any good reasons for the delay in filing a defence and that his client would be “gravely prejudiced”.

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