MORE than $2.5 million in damages has been awarded to the estate of murdered domestic violence victim Samantha Isaacs after a High Court judge ruled that failures by the State, including the police and a magistrate, contributed to her death.The award was made last Friday by Justice Robin Mohammed, in which he directed the Office of the Attorney General to pay a total of $2.51 million in compensatory and vindicatory damages, together with interest and legal costs, after finding that Isaacs’ constitutional rights, including her right to life and the protection of the law, had been breached.The award follows a prior ruling in which the judge held that the State was liable for failing to protect Isaacs despite her repeated reports to the police about threats and abuse from her former partner, Kahriym Garcia.Justice Mohammed found that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) failed to properly investigate her complaints, initiate prosecutions or take reasonable steps to protect her despite what he described as an obvious and escalating risk.He also ruled that a magistrate had acted prematurely and arbitrarily in dismissing her application for a protection order without conducting a meaningful assessment of the danger she faced or considering the impact on her and her young son, Kaiden.Issacs was subsequently murdered.In assessing damages, Mohammed awarded:• $960,000 for Samatha’s loss of earnings during her lost years of life• $450,000 for the pain, suffering and other non-pecuniary losses she endured before her death, including aggravated damages• $600,000 for the non-pecuniary loss suffered by Samantha’s mother, Tot Lampkin, and her son, Kaiden Garcia, arising from breaches of their right to respect for family life• $500,000 in vindicatory damages to reflect the seriousness of the constitutional breaches and deter similar failures by State authorities.The court also awarded prejudgment interest of $131,609.58, calculated at 2.5% per annum on the non-pecuniary damages, and ordered that post-judgment interest at 5% per annum be paid on all sums until they are settled.Additionally, the judge directed the State to bear Lampkin’s legal costs.TTPS inaction In his ruling, Mohammed described the actions of State agencies as displaying “institutional inertia” despite repeated warning signs.He found that Isaacs had repeatedly sought protection but was met with inaction, with the TTPS failing to properly investigate her complaints, recognise the pattern of escalating violence outlined in her reports or bring appropriate criminal proceedings.The judge also noted that although the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) had recommended disciplinary action against an officer involved in handling one of Isaacs’ reports, no action was taken, further compounding the breach of her constitutional rights.In awarding vindicatory damages, Justice Mohammed said ordinary compensation was insufficient to reflect the gravity of the breach of Issacs’ right to life, stressing that such awards are intended to express public condemnation of constitutional violations, reaffirm the importance of fundamental rights, and discourage similar failures by State authorities in the future.
Court awards over $2.5m to estate of murdered woman
MORE than $2.5 million in damages has been awarded to the estate of murdered domestic violence victim Samantha Isaacs after a High Court judge ruled that failures by the State,
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