Judge dismisses wrongful imprisonment lawsuit filed against DPP by former murder accused

The wrongful imprisonment and malicious prosecution lawsuit filed against Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack, SC and Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC by former murder accused Colin Bailey, has been dismissed. 

In the claim, Bailey had, among other things, sought several declarations, including that his constitutional right not to be deprived of personal liberty was breached, that his constitutional right to a fair trial within a reasonable time was breached and that his constitutional right not to be subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment was also breached.

The case was thrown out last Friday by High Court Judge Nareshwar Harnanan who found that the matter was res judicata–the principle that a cause of action may not be relitigated once it has been judged on the merits. In so doing, the Judge referred to a ruling made by Justice Damone Younge on December 13, 2021, in which she held that Bailey’s rights were not breached.

According to Justice Harnanan, there was nothing barring Bailey from putting all the facts in the previous case which was determined by Justice Younge. As such, he dismissed the claim and ordered Bailey to pay costs to the DPP and AG in the sum of $150,000. The DPP and AG contended that issuing a claim that is res judicata is an abuse of the court process and should be dismissed.

The DPP was represented by Attorney-at-Law Dr Kim Kyte-Thomas, the AG by Attorney-at-Law Ronetta Sargent and Bailey by Attorneys-at-Law Nigel Hughes and Ronald Daniels.

Bailey, 58, had been charged with the August 2013 murder of his 36-year-old wife Sirmattie Ramnaress. The former Policeman, who was arraigned before a Magistrate in 2016 and thereafter remanded, was freed in October 2021 after Judge Jo Ann Barlow upheld a no-case submission and directed the mixed 12-member jury to return a formal not guilty verdict.

When his trial had been ongoing in October 2021,  the State Prosecutor had been in the process of calling her final three witnesses, when Justice Barlow inquired of her whether these witnesses were bringing any evidence against Bailey.

With the prosecutor conceding that there was no such evidence, Bailey’s lawyer Hughes submitted that there was no case for his client to answer. Having agreed with counsel’s position, the Judge directed the jury to return the formal verdict of not guilty.

Following his acquittal on the charge of murdering his wife, Bailey, in December 2021, filed a lawsuit against the DPP and the Attorney General in which he sought more than $100 million in damages over his wrongful arrest and subsequent detention for five and half years.

Among the declarations he had sought was that his arrest and detention were in violation of his constitutional right to liberty; that his detention for five and a half years breached his constitutional right to liberty and a fair trial within a reasonable time; and that his detention at the Lusignan Prison without basic medical facilities to prevent the spread of COVID-19 breached his constitutional right to protection from inhuman and degrading treatment. 

Justice Harnanan, however, dismissed his lawsuit.

Meanwhile, before directing the jury to acquit Bailey, Justice Barlow had pointed out that based on the committal records, he should not have been charged with the woman’s murder.  

“No charge should be instituted when there is no evidence,” Justice Barlow underscored as she urged the prosecution to  “examine committal records carefully” before presenting indictments.

“Fulfill the constitutional mandate that dictates that no one should be before the court unless there is some lawful reason for that person to be there. This is not too much to ask. Every civilized society must have a system that ensures its citizens that measure of security.”

The High Court Judge had told the prosecutor that she hopes she will convey, to her superiors, the court’s dissatisfaction in having to waste judicial time to preside over a matter that should not have been in the court from the outset.

A statement issued by the DPP’s office last week Friday said that there was not sufficient evidence at the High Court trial because the witness who the prosecutor had intended to testify, did not testify.

Meanwhile, in October 2021, Colin Grant, who had been jointly charged with Bailey for the woman’s murder, pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was jailed for 21 years.  But after deductions are made for his early guilty plea and time spent on remand, he will only serve about eight years.

He admitted that between August 30, and 31, 2013, in Demerara,  he unlawfully killed Ramnaress called ‘Kavita’. 

According to reports, Bailey and Ramnaress shared a long-term relationship when 36-year-old Ramnaress was found dead in the garage of her multi-million dollar Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD) home on the morning of August 31, 2013.

Firefighters were summoned to put out a blaze that was set in the garage. The woman lived alone and had stab wounds and other injuries to her head and other parts of her body.