Power trip

In a strong rebuke of police misconduct, a Supreme Court judge has ordered the Government to pay $3.7 million to a man who was falsely imprisoned after a cop accused him of disrespect in Manchester in 2012.

Justice Judith Pusey ruled that Special Constable Collington Montague acted without cause and assaulted Renoir Reynolds-Hosang after profiling him in the Mandeville Market on October 6, 2012.

“The constable never searched the bag or the person of the accused, which was the reason [why] he approached him, but hit and arrested him in an assertion of power,” the judge declared in an oral judgment in February.

Reynolds-Hosang sued the policeman and the attorney general (representing the State) in November 2016 for assault and battery, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution.

The trial was held on November 6, 2024.

In his testimony, Reynolds-Hosang said he was standing in the Mandeville Market with a friend when he was accosted by Montague, who demanded a search of his person and his knapsack.

Reynolds-Hosang said because of the manner in which the cop approached him, he threw the bag to the ground, saying, “Feel free to search it.”

He said Montague searched the bag and said to him, “Now me tink ‘bout it, me nuh like the way yuh disrespect mi."

He claimed the cop hit him in his face and neck.

The policeman, in his testimony, claimed he approached Reynolds-Hosang because of “suspicious” movements.

He said he was on special patrol duties with three other colleagues in a service vehicle when he saw Reynolds-Hosang with the knapsack on his back.

He testified that Reynolds-Hosang looked in his direction and then turned around quickly.

The reaction, he said, aroused his suspicion based on his experience of accosting persons in the market with offensive weapons and ganja.

The policeman said he approached the man, identified himself, and asked to search the bag. He said the man suddenly became boisterous, threw the knapsack to the ground and said, “Every weh unuh police see man, unuh just a take set pon me so.”

Montague added that the man used an expletive, after which he tried to handcuff him. He said the man resisted, and the other cops assisted in subduing him. He said that the wrist injury was observed while they were at the Mandeville Police Station, and Reynolds-Hosang was taken for treatment at a hospital.

But Pusey argued that that approach was wrong.

“I do not accept that moving suddenly is sufficient basis for a constable to believe that a citizen has contraband in his possession.

“I find that the officer profiled the claimant and based on his assumptions, aggressively approached the claimant,” she said, adding, “There must be something more than a ‘whim’ held by the constable.”

The judge also expressed dismay that Montague seemed unaware of a basic principle of policing: “The constable admits that he is not conversant with the concept of ‘reasonable cause’ and simply acted on experience.”

Reynolds-Hosang, who was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and using indecent language, denied ever using expletives and maintained that he was calm but offended by the aggressive approach.

The charges were dismissed in September 2013 after Montague failed to appear in court.

Pusey accepted Reynolds-Hosang’s version of events, saying he was consistent in his evidence and “unruffled” in cross-examination.

“The court is satisfied that the constable set in motion a criminal charge against the claimant because he felt disrespected,” Pusey said. “It follows, therefore, that the officer acted without reasonable and probable cause when he charged the claimant for disorderly conduct, using indecent language and resisting arrest.”

The judge rejected the constable’s claim that he acted in accordance with the police’s use of force and public interaction policies. She also said it was “telling that the defendant, in cross-examination, said he was ‘unsure about the whole aspect’ of the cuffing”.

“This aggression attracted the attention of people in the marketplace and caused the crowd to converge,” she said, describing the public embarrassment suffered by Reynolds-Hosang. “This is in circumstances where he was not told that he was being arrested and for what offences.”

Reynolds-Hosang was held in custody for approximately six hours and suffered soft-tissue injuries to his wrist due to tight handcuffing. He required a month of physiotherapy to regain full function. Additionally, he was hit in the face and neck.

Pusey awarded $1.7 million for assault, $900,000 for malicious prosecution, and $1 million for false imprisonment – a total of $3.6 million in general damages, plus interest.

She also awarded special damages for legal and medical costs totalling $151,000, with interest.

In dismissing a claim for aggravated or exemplary damages, Pusey noted the absence of extreme or unconstitutional conduct.

Reynolds-Hosang was represented by attorney Sean Kinghorn, while the policeman and the State were represented by Taniesha Rowe-Coke, instructed by the director of state proceedings in the Attorney General’s Chambers.

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