A High Court judge has ordered the state to pay more than $223,000 in damages, interest and costs to a sporting apparel wholesaler who was unlawfully detained and maliciously prosecuted by police officers during a traffic stop in 2018.

In a recent judgment, Justice Devindra Rampersad ruled that the claimant, who asked that his name not be revealed because of the prevailing crime situation, was falsely imprisoned and subjected to malicious prosecution after being stopped, detained and charged by officers of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, during a traffic exercise on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway on June 23, 2018.

He was represented at trial by attorney Joel Roper. In his order, Justice Rampersad awarded the claimant $50,000 in damages for false imprisonment, inclusive of aggravated damages, and $70,000 for malicious prosecution. An additional $25,000 was awarded as special damages.