A death row inmate, whose hand was left deformed after being beaten by prison officers during a riot 13 years ago, is set to receive over $230,000 in compensation.
Garvin “Beam” Sookram was among 57 inmates who brought their assault and battery lawsuits against the State over the incident, which occurred at the remand section of the Golden Grove State Prison on November 11, 2006.
Although former High Court Judge and current Appellate Judge Judith Jones upheld their lawsuit in July 2012, High Court Master Sherlanne Pierre only assessed the compensation owed to Sookram at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain, yesterday morning.
Pierre ordered the State to pay Sookram $180,000 in general damages and $50,000 in exemplary damages. She also ordered the State to pay five per cent interest on the compensation starting from the date that Jones delivered her judgement, seven years ago.
In his witness statement in the lawsuit, Sookram claimed that he and the other prisoners were in their cells when a group of masked prison and police officers entered and began beating them.
“I was slapped, cuffed, kicked, stamped on and hit numerous times with gun butts and batons,” Sookram said.
He was then made to lie on the ground and was kicked in the face by an officer.
Sookram was then dragged and thrown back into the cell. After a short time, he was handcuffed and taken to another part of the prison, where he was again beaten.
During the second beating, Sookram’s hand was broken with a blow from a baton. He was then returned to his cell, where he waited for five days before he was taken for medical attention.
“I will always remember this incident, as my deformed hand is a constant reminder of it each and every single day. The scars and occasional pain I experience on my body also serve as reminders,” Sookram said.
In February 2011, Sookram and Keron “Bellies” Lopez were convicted of murdering Kerwin “Richie Rich” Hinds and Kerwin “Ox” Cyrus.
It was the State’s case that on July 28, 2004, Hinds, Cyrus and their friend Sean Quamina went to Saw Mill Avenue in San Juan to meet Sookram and Lopez. Quamina waited in the car as the four men walked into a track off Granado Street.
Quamina, who was made a State witness, claimed that shortly after walking into the track, Sookram and Lopez drew guns and shot them several times. Before being shot, Hinds reportedly drew a gun and returned fire. Quamina ran away and hid in a house until the police arrived.
After the incident, Quamina migrated to the United States but was murdered at his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, on February 1, 2010.
Quamina’s testimony during the preliminary inquiry in the case was used to convict the men at their trial.
Sookram and Lopez appealed but their applications were rejected by both the Court of Appeal and Privy Council.
In 2015, Sookram successfully challenged a prison rule which required supervised meetings between death row inmates and their lawyers.
Sookram was represented by Gerald Ramdeen and Dayadai Harripaul.