Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

The government is to pay $1 million, with interest, to Kingston businessman Earl Hobbins because a policeman wrongfully detained and charged him with a criminal offence.

The Attorney-General and Cons. Mark Watson were the defendants in the civil suit which Hobbins brought, seeking damages for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.

Justice Carol Beswick, in making the award, found that Constable Watson had acted with malice because he exhibited no desire to determine whether there was any criminal conduct and, if so, by whom. "He abused the process of the court by wrongfully setting the law in motion on a criminal charge," said the judge of Constable Watson, who had arrested and charged Hobbins in November 1998 with fraudulent conversion of money.

Hobbins, who was represented by attorney-at-law Carlton Williams, said the experience caused him distress and that he suffered from a headache so intense that it lasted for two weeks after he was released on bail. He said it became impossible for him to work because he lost his ability to concentrate.

The charge arose from a complaint which Aldene Ferreira, Hobbins' fiancée at the time, had made regarding the purchase of a car.

Plea fell on deaf ears

Hobbins's case was that he informed Constable Watson that he had referred Ferreira to a fellow car dealer named Ellis, and Ellis had issued a receipt for the money tendered. Hobbins gave Watson all the relevant information and pleaded with him to contact Ellis about the transaction, but Hobbins' plea fell on deaf ears.

He was detained for 28 hours before he was placed before the court and granted bail. He attended court several times over a six-month period and eventually a Resident Magistrate made a 'no-order' in the case, in favour of Hobbins, and advised him to sue the policeman.

Justice Beswick heard evidence in the Supreme Court in the matter and awarded Hobbins $600,000 for malicious prosecution. She said she accepted, on a balance of probabilities, that Hobbins had given the police information which could have assisted in further investigation into whether a crime had been committed and, if so, by whom.

"I take judicial note of the fact that in Jamaica today, the police are seldom provided with information," the judge said.

She pointed out that Hobbins remained in custody for 28 hours, and she awarded him $400,000 for false imprisonment. She said it was her view that to be imprisoned falsely for 28 hours could not be regarded as "a reasonable time", as attorney-at-law Peter Wilson from the Attorney-General's Department had submitted.

Also, she awarded Hobbins $25,000 in special damages. Interest on the $1 million is to be paid at the rate of six per cent from the time the lawsuit was filed in 1998.