For the second time in just over one month and the third time in two years, a Claxton Bay man has been awarded compensation by the court for wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution. The total amount awarded to him by the court after he succeeded in all three claims amounts to just about $1 million. Now the man, Mark Hagley, says he is no longer afraid of being framed by police officers and would take the necessary action if he is again arrested and prosecuted for offences he did not commit.

His latest victory took place at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain yesterday when a High Court Master ordered that the State pay to him $200,000 in damages. Hagley had filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit against the Office of the Attorney General after he was arrested in February 2010, while liming at “Uncle’s Bar” in Claxton Bay.

According to this claim, on the day in question, he was at the location with two friends when a police jeep drove by, stopped, turned around and proceeded towards the business place. Two officers came out of the vehicle and approached him. He said, having been framed by police before in 2006, he told the officers he had nothing in his possession and that he was willing to remove his clothing to prove so.(Trinidad Express)…[+]