Last Updated on Friday, 15 November 2024, 20:09 by Writer
High Court Judge, Nigel Niles on Wednesday awarded GY$24 million in damages and expenses concerning the police shooting death of Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara villager, Quindon Bacchus.
Bacchus, 25, was shot multiple times by a policeman on June 10, 2022, at Haslington, East Coast Demerara.
While the State has charged police Lance Corporal Kristoff De Nobrega with Bacchus’ murder—he is awaiting a trial by judge and jury—the deceased man’s mother had filed a civil action in the High Court.
The Chambers of attorneys-at-law Dr Dexter Todd and Dexter Smartt said in a statement that by letter dated July 24, 2024, the Office of the Attorney General wrote to the attorneys for Bacchus’ mother, as well as the judge, indicating that the State has accepted liability for the brutal shooting and requested that the court make a decision on the quantum of damages to be granted to the estate of the deceased.
The court invited submissions from both sides and subsequently made its decision. The law chambers said Justice Niles found that the brutal killing of Bacchus breached his right to life, as protected under the Constitution of Guyana.
The court indicated that it looked at recent matters of a similar nature and considered the settlement and judgment amounts in those matters before making its own decision in this case. According to a statement from the lawyers’ chambers, the court ordered that the State pay to the estate of Mr. Bacchus GY$1 million for his funeral expenses, GY$22.5 million as damages for the breach of his right to life and GY$500,000 in costs, bringing the total to GY$24 million.
The post-mortem report noted that Bacchus died from multiple gunshot wounds. Dr. Singh in that autopsy report revealed that Bacchus received six gunshots and also confirmed that he was shot five times to the back and once to the chest, lawyers Todd and Smartt said.
The mother of Quindon Bacchus, on behalf of the estate of Mr. Bacchus, filed an action against the State for the unlawful killing of her son. This action was filed by Dexter Todd and Associates Law Firm.
The State first defended the action, denying liability for the killing and claiming that Mr. Bacchus died during an authorized police undercover operation while he was attempting to illegally sell firearms.
The lawyers recounted that incident was first described as an undercover sting operation by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) which led to a shootout with the deceased and GPF members. The police claimed that Mr. Bacchus was going to sell an undercover officer an unlicensed firearm, the police revealed themselves to him, and he thereafter ran and started firing gunshots at the police. The police claimed that they subsequently returned fire hitting him and he succumbed to those injuries.
However, the Chambers said investigations revealed that there was no authorized police operation in that area and no Police Commander was aware of such. Further, examination of the firearm allegedly recovered at the scene revealed that the firearm the police claimed Mr. Bacchus used to shoot at them was inoperable and could not have been fired by the deceased. There was also no civilian witness who saw Mr. Bacchus fire at the police, the law firm added.
As a result of the incident and the investigation of the Police, several police officers were allegedly placed on close arrest by the GPF. Two other officers, Lance Corporal Simon and Sergeant McLennon, were also charged with attempting to obstruct the course of justice. Lance Corporal Simon was also charged with the offence of conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline.
Mr Bacchus had left to mourn his family and friends, including his three year-old son.
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