Fran­cis Joseph

For­mer pris­on­er Sean Wal­lace was yes­ter­day award­ed more than $300,000 in dam­ages and costs af­ter he was mer­ci­less­ly beat­en by pris­ons of­fi­cers in jail.

Added to that, Jus­tice An­dre Des Vi­gnes, or­dered that his judg­ment be for­ward­ed to the Com­mis­sion­er of Pris­ons and the act­ing Di­rec­tor of Pub­lic Pros­e­cu­tions (DPP) for ac­tion. Pre­sid­ing in the Port-of-Spain High Court, Des Vi­gnes said mil­lions of dol­lars were be­ing paid out by the State in cas­es like this and noth­ing was be­ing done. He pro­duced sev­er­al judg­ments dur­ing the last ten years to show awards giv­en by judges for licks im­posed by po­lice and pris­ons of­fi­cers. "When one thought that this would stop, the abuse con­tin­ues. Notwith­stand­ing what has been said be­fore, the mes­sage has not got­ten through to the rank and file. It paints a dis­gust­ing pic­ture. No ex­cuse has been giv­en for the con­duct of the pris­ons of­fi­cers." As far as Des Vi­gnes was con­cerned, no in­ves­ti­ga­tion had been con­duct­ed in this mat­ter. "This was bar­bar­ic be­hav­iour, a wicked and un­war­rant­ed bru­tal­i­sa­tion of the claimant," the judge said. Des Vi­gnes said Wal­lace suf­fered men­tal an­guish and great hu­mil­i­a­tion. He said the pris­ons of­fi­cers took turns at beat­ing and kick­ing Wal­lace about the body and face. He said Wal­lace feared for his life when he was at­tacked. Des Vi­gnes award­ed $160,000 in gen­er­al dam­ages; $70,000 in ex­em­plary dam­ages, $13,848 in in­ter­est, and $46,577 in

costs. Ger­ald Ramdeen and Mark Seep­er­sad ap­peared for Wal­lace, while State at­tor­ney Mi­tra Bhim­s­ingh rep­re­sent­ed the At­tor­ney Gen­er­al.

The at­tack

Wal­lace, 44, of San­ta Cruz, was in­car­cer­at­ed at the Port-of-Spain State Prison on March 17, 2008. He was there to serve a sen­tence of 30 months. While sit­ting in the north-east cor­ner of the prison, a bag with cig­a­rettes came over the wall. Ac­cord­ing to Wal­lace, that was when his prob­lems be­gan. Of­fi­cer af­ter of­fi­cer in­flict­ed blows on him. Wal­lace said an of­fi­cer named Gan­pat hit him with a ba­ton on his head. "I be­came dis­ori­ent­ed and fell grab­bing the wall. I said, 'Oh God, Mr Gan­pat, what is that.' Gan­pat took up the staff and jammed it in­to my ribs." Wal­lace said Gan­pat beat him all over his body. Dur­ing this time, Wal­lace said he was scream­ing. He said when Gan­pat stopped beat­ing him, he was then kicked in his face with his boots. The blows, he said, were so vi­cious, that he start­ed to spit blood. Wal­lace said an­oth­er pris­ons of­fi­cer was pass­ing in the cor­ri­dor and turned to Gan­pat and said, "Oh gosh, enough is enough, what yuh want to do, kill him?" Gan­pat wait­ed for the of­fi­cer to leave and then he con­tin­ued to rain blows on Wal­lace. The in­juries were so se­vere that Wal­lace was tak­en to the Port-of-Spain Gen­er­al Hos­pi­tal. He spent four days there be­fore he was tak­en back to the prison.