A teenage boy who was detained overnight at the Florida police station on suspicion of being in possession of drugs, but later found not to be connected to the drugs, is set to receive R50 000 in damages from the minister of safety and security. Awarding the damages in the Pretoria High Court, Judge J Kruger said the law and the constitution were clear when it came to children, and the law was not followed in this case. Children should only be detained as a last resort, the judge said.
The boy, who was 16 at the time, was assisted in his court application by the Centre for Child Law at the University of Pretoria. Ronald Ngidi, an attorney at the centre, said the teenager wanted an apology from police, but never had a response. "Monetary award can only go so far to address the trauma and emotion of an arrest and detention. A restorative justice approach has value in these matters," Ngidi said.
The teenager, who cannot be named as he was a minor at the time of his arrest, was on November 16, 2006, on his way to buy ice cream with a friend. About 5km from his home in Fairlands, they were stopped by an unmarked vehicle and ordered by the driver to get out of their vehicle. The police officers did not identify themselves and called for back-up. The flying squad arrived and the car was searched.
The drug Cat was found in the trousers of the boy's friend. They did not find drugs on the boy. He was, however, arrested and not allowed to phone his parents. But his parents phoned him on his cellphone and a policeman told them he had been arrested and taken to the Florida police station.
His family arrived at the police station but were told the police could not release the boy. An officer gave the boy a form - stating his rights - to sign. The boy, who was in shock, said he could not read English and was told that there were no Afrikaans forms available. He was then taken to a cell. The police refused to release him into the care of his parents, as his fingerprints still had to be taken, but the fingerprints pad was "locked away". His parents asked the sergeant on duty to take a warm jacket to their son, who was still wearing the same clothes he had while gardening earlier in the day.
The police, however, ordered nobody was to take anything to him. His parents returned to the police station the next day, but the station commander said the boy was not to be released. The court heard that the police's provincial headquarters had told the boy's mother that the child must be released. She informed the station commander, but he still refused. The teenager was later taken for interrogation and only at that stage told he could have legal representation, his lawyer said. His picture and fingerprints were also taken.
By then the boy was extremely upset and crying and shaking violently. He told his parents he was informed he was going to spend the weekend in the holding cell. A captain apparently told him he looked fit enough to spend the weekend in jail. The teenager was only released later that afternoon after his parents obtained the services of a lawyer. But that was not the end of his trauma, as the police later arrived at his home and took his fingerprints on the front lawn, in front of his friends. Charges were later withdrawn. A drug test was done on the teenager during his ordeal, which proved negative.
The police denied any wrongdoing and said they were entitled to arrest him, as he was suspected of being in possession of drugs.
Source: IoL
No comments:
Post a Comment