Gov't ordered to pay over $120M to man locked up for 50 years without trial

[malaise]

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20250626/govt-ordered-pay-over-120m-man-locked-50-years-without-trial

Gov't ordered to pay over $120M to man locked up for 50 years without
The Supreme Court has ordered the Government to pay over $120 million in damages to George Williams, the mentally-ill man who spent 50 years, or his entire working life, in custody without a trial.


The sum includes $78.6 million for compensatory damages and $42 million for vindicatory damages, according to the judgment handed down on Thursday in a wrongful imprisonment lawsuit filed by Williams’ attorney John Clarke.

The Government had offered to pay Williams $6 million, but this was rejected by his family.

Supreme Court Judge Sonya Wint-Blair declared in her ruling that Williams’ right to due process and a fair hearing by an independent and impartial court within a reasonable time were breached by the failure of state organs to conduct periodic reviews of his incarceration to determine whether he had recovered his mental health to be fit to enter a plea and stand trial.

Williams, a Rastafarian, was taken into custody by the police on December 29, 1970 and charged with murder of Ian Laurie committed on July 21 that same year, according to documents reviewed by The Gleaner.
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Good - so much evil on this planet