An 81-year-old man from Maracas/St Joseph has been released from a private senior care home in Maraval after he was abandoned by a relative and kept there against his will.
Guardian Media understands that Kirk Noel was released yesterday after High Court Judge Robin Mohammed granted an emergency habeas corpus writ on Friday night.
Noel's lawyers Chase Pegus and Edisha Greene, of Veritas Chambers, attempted to serve the order to secure his immediate release, with the assistance of officers of the Maraval Police Station on Friday night but were unsuccessful as the facility was closed and no one responded.
The director of the home contacted Noel's lawyers around midday yesterday, and told them that he was released as per the court order.
In Noel's court filings, obtained by Guardian Media, Pegus and Greene claimed that in late June they were contacted by Noel's former employee and close friend and told of his plight.
They contacted him on his cellphone and he claimed that he was being held against his will.
Noel allegedly told them that his relative dropped him off at a hospice in San Fernando on May 15 and told him that she would return for him. She did not.
On June 24, a director of the Maraval home collected him from San Fernando and took him to the Queen's Park Savannah to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
He was then taken to the Maraval home where he remained until being released.
In the court filings, Noel's attorneys claimed that before they filed the lawsuit seeking his release, they attempted to speak with the man's relatives but were unsuccessful.
They also claimed that after they first contacted their client his cell phone was cut and they were barred from visiting and speaking with him in person.
The care home's director also allegedly refused to answer their questions regarding his detention and did not respond to the habeas corpus writ or previous legal threats.
The court filings did not allege that Noel was abused or mistreated at either of the facilities.
Noel is expected to file a police report over what transpired and a false imprisonment claim against the home and its director.