George Williams, a mentally ill man who languished in prison for 50 years, awaiting a trial, has been awarded more than $120 million by the Supreme Court.
Williams, who was not considered fit to plead, was released in June 2020, and sought compensation from the Government.
Justice Sonya Wint Blair, who presided over the case, awarded Williams $78.6 million for compensatory damages and $42 million for vindicatory damages.
The Government had offered the family $6 million in compensation.
The $42 million awarded for vindicatory damages is $1 million per year for “the 42 years the executive did not meet the relevant statutory requirements concerning the safe custody and care of the claimant, which included the consideration of his mental health and well-being as a detainee in custody,” Wint Blair wrote in her decision.
Williams, a Rastafarian, was taken into custody on July 21, 1970, following a knife attack on a family driving through the community of Mount Diablo, in St Catherine, according to records included in the case.
In December that year, he was charged with killing Ian Laurie, who was stabbed to death during the incident.
He was examined on February 3, 1971, and found to be suffering from schizophrenia but was in a state of partial remission.
Williams was declared unfit to plead on March 25, 1971, and was ordered to be kept in custody at the governor general’s pleasure. He remained in custody for decades without any periodic review of the case.