A 25-year-old man, who was wrongfully arrested, detained, imprisoned and maliciously prosecuted by the Guyana Police Force back in 2023 when he was 22-years-old, has been awarded $8 Million by the High Court.

The youth, Terrence Sandy, filed a lawsuit against the Guyana Police Force in 2024 over the 2023 incident.

Last Friday, Justice Sherdel Issacs-Marcus awarded Sandy the total sum of $8 million after declaring that he was wrongfully arrested by members of the Guyana Police Force, was wrongfully imprisoned for a total of 80 days by agents/officers of the State and was subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment by agents of the State.

The Court also declared that the fundamental rights of the claimant, as guaranteed under Articles 139(1) and 141 of the Constitution, were violated by the State.

Additionally, the Court declared that the youth was maliciously prosecuted by members of the Guyana Police Force without seeking legal advice on the matter.

The youth was on his way home in his village of Kuru Kururu on the 10^th June, 2023 when he was grabbed and dumped into a Police vehicle by a number of Police Ranks.

He was taken to the Police station and held for hours without being asked any questions or told of any complaint against him. Eventually he was bundled to the Court and charged with the offence of break and enter and refused bail.

After being retained, his Attorneys, Dexter Todd and Dexter Smartt, realized that there were several violations in the youth’s arrest and there was no accusation or evidence against him.

The matter was eventually withdrawn by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions after it was brought to the attention of the DPP. However, by that time, the youth had already spent more than 2 months on remand.

The Attorneys said the High Court ruling in the case once again reflects the Court’s zero tolerance for Constitutional breaches against citizens and their posture of compensating victims of these breaches.

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