State Challenges $22.5M Judgment in Quindon Bacchus Unlawful Killing Case

December 30 2024 – The State has filed an appeal against a $22.5 million judgment awarded in the unlawful killing case of Quindon Bacchus, a 25-year-old father fatally shot by a police constable in Haslington, East Coast Demerara, in June 2022.

The appeal, submitted to the Court of Appeal of Guyana, contests the quantum of damages awarded, though liability for the killing had been previously admitted by the State.

Solicitor General Nigel Hawke, speaking at the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs’s end press conference on Saturday last, explained that the appeal challenges aspects of Justice Nigel Niles’ decision, arguing that the judge overstepped in assessing compensation.

“We did accept liability; it’s just the issue of quantum [of damages] we are dealing with,” Hawke stated, adding that the ruling’s implications warrant a review by a higher court.

“We felt that the police officers were wrong, and there was a finding to that effect by the Police Complaints Authority. The Director of Public Prosecutions [recommended] criminal charges against the offending officers,” stated Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, as he explained the State’s decision not to contest liability.

Nandlall said that compensation has to be assessed based upon what is pleaded. “The judge can’t go outside of that, and we felt that the judge entered the arena and granted reliefs, granted measure of damages that were not before him,” he added.

Nandlall emphasised that allowing the decision to stand could set a harmful precedent.

In addition to the $22.5M in damages awarded for the breach of Bacchus’s right to life, the State was ordered to pay $1M for his funeral expenses and $500,000 in court costs, bringing the total to $24M.

Bacchus was killed on June 10, 2022, during a police operation reportedly involving his attempt to sell an illegal firearm to an undercover.

Police claimed Bacchus fled after the exchange and fired at an officer, prompting the officer to return fire. Bacchus later died at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

A post-mortem examination later revealed that the young man died from multiple gunshot wounds, having been shot five times in the back and once in the chest.

The incident led to widespread public outcry and investigations, resulting in murder charges against Lance Corporal Kristoff De Nobrega. De Nobrega awaits trial at the Demerara High Court.

Two other police officers, Lance Corporal Thurston Simon and Cadet Officer Dameion McLennon, face charges for attempting to obstruct the course of justice by providing false information to investigators.