Former Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Slowe has been awarded $1 million in damages after the High Court found that police unlawfully restrained him in the precincts of the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court while he was there in response to a summons.
Justice Nicola Pierre, in a judgment delivered on Monday, found that Slowe’s constitutional right to personal liberty under Article 139 of the Constitution was infringed during the October 15, 2021 incident.
The State admitted liability for assault, battery and false imprisonment, according to a statement yesterday from Hughes, Fields & Stoby, which represented Slowe in the constitutional proceedings against the Attorney General.
Justice Pierre awarded Slowe $800,000 in compensatory damages for assault, battery and false imprisonment, and another $200,000 in vindicatory damages for the breach of his constitutional right. Costs of $250,000 were also awarded.
Although Slowe was restrained for approximately ten minutes, the judge found that the circumstances were serious. He was at the court in response to a summons in the very matter for which ranks of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) sought to arrest him.
The restraint continued after attorneys informed the ranks that there was no lawful basis for the arrest. The incident occurred in public, was recorded and was subsequently circulated through traditional and social media.
Stabroek News had reported at the time that Slowe, a former Chairman of the Police Service Commission, had recently returned from overseas and appeared before Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus in response to a summons.
While he was making his way to the hearing, SOCU ranks attempted to arrest him on the same charges he was there to answer. During the encounter, one rank held Slowe by the arm while another was seen holding him by his belt.
Slowe described the attempted arrest as an “outrageous abuse of power” and “bully policing”. He had pointed out that no arrest warrant had been issued and complained that the plainclothes ranks were initially unable to produce police identification.
The former senior police officer was later released on $100,000 bail on a conspiracy to defraud charge and $75,000 bail on each of three sexual assault charges.
The conspiracy charge, which concerned an alleged plot by Slowe and eight other serving and retired police officers to defraud the Guyana Police Force of $10.056 million, was dismissed in December 2023 for want of evidence. In February this year, the three sexual assault charges against Slowe were also dismissed after the magistrate found that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The police subsequently indicated that they intended to appeal that decision.
The High Court, according to Hughes, Fields & Stoby, emphasised that police powers must be exercised strictly in accordance with the law and that constitutional protections against arbitrary arrest and detention must be vindicated when breached.
Slowe was represented by attorneys Nigel Hughes and Kiswana Jefford.
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