Jamaican gov't ordered to pay $120M to man detained for 50 years without trial
Key Points(5)
- The Supreme Court has ordered the Government of Jamaica to pay more than $120 million in damages to George Williams, a mentally ill man who spent 50 years in custody without ever facing trial.
- In a ruling delivered Thursday, Justice Sonya Wint-Blair awarded $78.6 million in compensatory damages and $42 million in vindicatory damages to Williams, whose decades-long detention was described as a gross violation of his constitutional rights.
- The judgment stems from a wrongful imprisonment lawsuit filed by his attorney, John Clarke.
- The Government had initially offered $6 million in compensation, but the offer was rejected by Williams’ family.
- Justice Wint-Blair found that Williams’ right to due process and a fair hearing within a reasonable time had been severely breached.
The Supreme Court has ordered the Government of Jamaica to pay more than $120 million in damages to George Williams, a mentally ill man who spent 50 years in custody without ever facing trial.
In a ruling delivered Thursday, Justice Sonya Wint-Blair awarded $78.6 million in compensatory damages and $42 million in vindicatory damages to Williams, whose decades-long detention was described as a gross violation of his constitutional rights. The judgment stems from a wrongful imprisonment lawsuit filed by his attorney, John Clarke.
The Government had initially offered $6 million in compensation, but the offer was rejected by Williams’ family.
Justice Wint-Blair found that Williams’ right to due process and a fair hearing within a reasonable time had been severely breached. The court also ruled that the state's failure to conduct periodic mental health evaluations to determine his fitness for trial amounted to a violation of his right to liberty in a democratic society.
Williams, a Rastafarian, was arrested on December 29, 1970, and charged with the murder of Ian Laurie, allegedly committed earlier that year. However, he was deemed unfit to plead and held "at the court’s pleasure" — effectively imprisoning him indefinitely without trial.
His case gained national attention in 2020 after the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) released a report exposing the prolonged incarceration of mentally ill detainees. The report revealed that Williams was one of seven men who had each spent at least 40 years behind bars awaiting trial.
Among them was Noel Chambers, another Rastafarian, who died in 2020 at the age of 81 after four decades in custody. The INDECOM report described his body as emaciated and covered with bedsores, vermin bites, and live bedbugs.
The court’s judgment marks a landmark decision in Jamaica’s legal and human rights history and raises serious questions about the treatment of mentally ill individuals in the justice system.
