NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Court of Appeal has ruled that the government is liable to pay damages to a woman who was unlawfully detained and sexually assaulted by a senior immigration officer in 2014.
The appellate court overturned Senior Justice Indra Charles’ previous ruling that the government was not responsible for Norman Bastian’s actions, stating that he was acting on a “frolic of his own.”
Instead, the appellate court ordered that damages for the unlawful detention, false imprisonment, assault, and battery suffered by Claudia Edwards Bethel, now deceased, be urgently assessed by a Supreme Court judge. Bethel died of COVID-19 in May 2021, one day after giving birth to her fourth child. She was 35 years old.
The Court of Appeal determined that Bethel is entitled to common law damages to be paid by the Crown due to its liability for the unlawful arrest and false imprisonment, as well as for the assault and battery she endured while falsely imprisoned by Norman Bastian, a senior immigration officer. The court also specified that Mrs. Bethel should receive aggravated damages, considering the evidence of suffering and distress she experienced during the sexual assaults committed by Bastian, who targeted her deliberately.
Norman Bastian had appealed the Supreme Court judge’s decision, citing delays in judgment delivery, inadequate factual findings due to trial delays, and insufficient assessment of witness credibility, particularly Bethel’s. The Court of Appeal unanimously rejected Bastian’s appeals.
On December 13, 2014, Bethel, a Jamaican national married to a Bahamian citizen, was arrested during a police raid at the Twilight Club, where several women with Jamaican accents, some scantily clad in panties and bras, were working. Bethel, who was fully clothed and working behind the bar, showed the police a copy of her spousal permit granting her legal permission to remain in The Bahamas. Despite this, she was taken into custody by Senior Immigration Officer Bastian, under the guise of verifying her address, but allegedly took her to his home and sexually assaulted her. Bethel subsequently filed a lawsuit against Bastian, the Attorney General, Minister of Immigration, Director of Immigration, and Commissioner of Police, claiming unlawful detention, assault, and violations of her constitutional rights.
In a dissenting judgment from Justices of Appeal Crane and Evans, Justice of Appeal Sir Michael Barnett concluded that Bethel’s arrest and detention were lawful. He agreed with the trial judge’s finding that it was reasonable for the authorities to arrest and detain Bethel pending their investigation into her involvement with the employment of the women working at the bar.
