Police exceeded powers in firearms dealer inspection, judge rules

POLICE exceeded their statutory powers when they restricted access to a firearms dealer’s premises, requi­red its director to accompany officers on daily walkthroughs, and repeatedly removed its registers overnight during a 13-day inspection exercise in 2022, High Court Judge Devindra Rampersad has ruled.

In a judgment delivered on Monday, Justice Rampersad found that while the police were entitled to inspect the stock and registers of the Firearms Training Institute Ltd (FTI), the additional measures imposed during the exercise were not authorised by Section 26 of the Firearms Act.

He awarded $65,000 in damages to FTI and its director, Towfeek Ali.