Homeless men to sue state

Two homeless men who were recorded drinking alcohol given to them by police and soldiers on mobile patrol last week, during the first night of restricted movement imposed by the State, to curtail the spread of covid19, intend to sue the state for compensation.

Newsday met with the men as their attorney, former police prosecutor Kelston Pope, chatted with them along George Street in Port of Spain on Friday.

Moses Phillip, who was previously identified as Dennis Moses, and Malcolm Salvary, 53, said they were made to feel less than human by the action of the officers.

Pope said that by the end of the week, the Attorney General will be served with a pre-action protocol letter. A third man, who was recorded by the lawmen, could not be found. Christophe Rodriquez, a former state attorney is also representing the men

Phillip, when he was first interviewed last Tuesday gave his name as Moses Phillip and at the end of a second interview that day said his name was Dennis Moses, twice.

He said he lost all his documentation so there was no way of verifying the information. On Friday, he insisted his name is Moses “Sunny” Phillip.

Phillip said since the article was published last Wednesday, he has seen a regular patrol of police officers and had spoken with members of the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) about the assault.

At a media briefing on Wednesday, Police Commissioner Gary Griffith said: “The Chief of Defence Staff is my batch and he will deal with those two clowns (the soldiers on patrol). But everyone is speaking about the police service, and as I said, those two officers should not wear uniforms, because they had a right to stop it. But it was a soldier who pointed the weapon and gave the instructions.”

The two police officers involved in the incident were identified and questioned last week.

The Defence Force is yet to comment on whether the soldiers were identified and what, if anything, has or will become of them for their role in the incident.

Salvary was not video recorded after being forced to consume a bottle of puncheon. He said he was the first to get a taste of the patrolling officers’ actions.