‘HE DESERVES MORE’: Kenyan awarded $640k for six years of illegal detention seeks higher compensation

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

KENYAN native Douglas Ngumi is challenging a Supreme Court ruling that awarded him over $640,000 in damages for his unlawful arrest, detention and inhumane treatment at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre, arguing more compensation is needed for the wrongs committed against him.

Ngumi is asking the court to award him $11m in restitution for his unlawful six-and-a-half-year imprisonment at the local detention centre, where he suffered and endured numerous beatings at the hands of immigration officers following his arrest in 2011.

The Kenyan native testified in 2019, detailing his experience at the detention centre, revealing many instances where he was severely beaten and also, how he contracted two diseases during his stay at CRDC.

Last November, Justice Indra Charles awarded Mr Ngumi $386,000 in damages for false imprisonment, assault and battery, $50,000 in aggravated damages, $100,000 in exemplary damages, $105,000 in constitutional damages by way of compensation and vindication and $950 in special damages — equalling $641,950.

Mr Ngumi is being represented by Fred Smith, QC, and others in his appeal.

In court yesterday, Mr Smith asserted that the amount of damages awarded to his client was far below the mark and further argued that Justice Charles erred in her ruling in regard to several issues.

Court documents filed by the appellant notes Justice Charles erred when determining the length of Ngumi’s detention at the facility and also when assessing the damages done to Ngumi, including exemplary damages, aggravated damages, constitutional damages by way of compensation and vindication and damages for false imprisonment.

In deciding on appropriate damages for Ngumi at the time, Justice Charles relied heavily on the case of Atain Takitota, a Japanese national who was arrested by immigration officers in 1992 and spent eight years in the maximum-security wing of the Fox Hill prison without charge.

Mr Takitota was awarded some $500,000 in damages in 2006 by the Court of Appeal.

However, Mr Smith said that the facts and circumstances surrounding the two cases were “vastly different,” though he agreed that both shared a long term of false imprisonment.

Still, notwithstanding the amount of damages awarded to Mr Takitota, Mr Smith said Bahamian authorities “continue in deliberate policy of unlawful arrest, falsely imprisoning and detaining people in inhumane and degrading conditions for days, weeks, months and years.”

He insisted that in Ngumi’s case, the damages awarded should have been notably higher than what was given, considering the deplorable conditions he endured while in immigration custody, and also to teach officials a lesson.

“Mr Ngumi was repeatedly and erroneously awarded very much reduced damages than he would otherwise be entitled to from principle,” Mr Smith said. “To continue to arrest and raid people indiscriminately and hold them ‘for immigration purposes’ or to arrest Mr Ngumi as they did and originally send him to the detention centre some years before because of the complaint by his wife and there was no offence committed has to be brought to a stop.

“…The longer the detention in the circumstances which exist in the Bahamas, the greater should be the amount of the award.”

According to court documents, the appellants also argue that Justice Charles made an error when she failed to award damages for “torts of assault and battery “and indemnity costs.”

He also suggested that the figures do not send a strong message to Bahamian authorities and implored the court to use Ngumi’s case as an example to help discourage such unlawful practices in governmental agencies, which he said are becoming too frequent.

He also said there is a need for the country to implement its own system for awarding damages to ensure fairness and balance across the board.

“This nonsense has to stop,” Mr Smith argued. “…Your lordships must use this case to send a message to the state and those running the state, Mr Carl Bethel and Mr Brent Symonette and whoever the ministers may be now that you cannot continue to do this with impunity.”

Meanwhile, the attorney representing the respondents in the matter, disagreed with Mr Smith’s arguments, insisting they did not believe the figure awarded was “so small” that it warranted a review by the Court of Appeal.

The respondents listed are Attorney General Carl Bethel, former Immigration Minister Brent Symonette, former Immigration Director William Pratt and Peter Joseph, the officer in charge of the CRDC.

A ruling on the matter is expected at a later date.

Comments

GodSpeed says...

🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

Posted 24 June 2021, 9:52 a.m. Suggest removal

tribanon says...

It seems QC Smith is not happy with his fees. Perhaps he should be doing much more much sooner to ensure his clients like Mr. Ngumi are released from custody at the earliest possible time.

Has the warm hearted QC Smith met with the attorney-general, director of prosecutions and senior prison and detention centre officials in an effort to determine how many more **foreign nationals** like Mr. Ngumi may have been wrongfully incarcerated and are still being detained at this time?

And what about those Bahamians who may be wrongfully detained at this time? Do the international humanitarian organizations with close ties to QC Smith care about them as well, or only the foreign nationals?

Posted 24 June 2021, 10:17 a.m. Suggest removal

C2B says...

Yes it's the lawyer's fault that Bahamian society 150 years behind the rest of the civilized world.

Posted 24 June 2021, 10:31 a.m. Suggest removal

DonAnthony says...

Yes he deserves more and the officers who beat him and the government officials that allowed his false imprisonment to continue for so long should be prosecuted. They deserve jail time.

Posted 24 June 2021, 11:02 a.m. Suggest removal

birdiestrachan says...

The lawyers receive most of the money,

Posted 24 June 2021, 12:08 p.m. Suggest removal

tribanon says...

Are you saying Mr. Ngumi was content with his $642,000 award until he received QC Smith's final billing for services rendered?

Posted 25 June 2021, 9:06 a.m. Suggest removal

TalRussell says...

**Accept it with all its positives and colourfulness - cause there is no sense with continuing be duckin' it!**
Clearly in 2021. **a full quarter plus** of all Bahamaland's, PopoulacesGeneral. was either born in Haiti or are of Haitian bloodlines.
Haiti goin' continue as the top migrant-sending countries to the Bahamaland, so, time moves **the Bahamaland has two official languages,** yes?

Posted 24 June 2021, 12:45 p.m. Suggest removal

Economist says...

Two things
1. Nothing will happen to the Civil Servants who cost use all this money. In the private sector they would lose their job and have trouble finding another. There are no cosequenses for ones actions in the Civil Service. They will probably just get transferred to another government department.
2.We talk about the Hatian problem but never talk about the Defence Force problem. An 80 mile stretch of water is the area thaat the haitians come from. Yet, 8 Defence Force vessels plus a plane and the Haitians make it all the way to Nassau and even Grand Bahama undetected.

Maybe we need to change our focus. The current one allows for corrupt Civil Services.

Posted 24 June 2021, 1:55 p.m. Suggest removal

TalRussell says...

@ComradeEconomist, I was told, when Sir Brian M QC - a
former Chairman of the Public Service Commission recommended that consideration is given to aggressively recruiting **new blood candidates** from outside the public service, em's was quickly shot down,
Our justice system has been recruiting outside foreigners. since days long before Sir Stafford. The Justice system of today has at least 10 foreign hires, yes?

Posted 24 June 2021, 2:11 p.m. Suggest removal

JokeyJack says...

He is a fool to appeal. He will get no money until appeal is completed and he may die during those ten years.

Posted 24 June 2021, 2:02 p.m. Suggest removal

FrustratedBusinessman says...

What happened to this guy is wrong, but he was not making 100k a year. He needs to take his money and be thankful for what he has.

Posted 24 June 2021, 7:15 p.m. Suggest removal

OMG says...

Given the. Lack of funds plus the overweight bloated civil service he will be lucky to see one penney. Why not garnish the wages of those responsible.

Posted 25 June 2021, 6:53 a.m. Suggest removal

tribanon says...

Forget that idea. Commonwealth Bank probably receives most of the wages of those responsible by way of direct payroll deduction.

Posted 25 June 2021, 9:13 a.m. Suggest removal

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