Court Awards $800K to Man Paralyzed in Police Shooting a Decade Ago

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A Nassau man paralyzed by a police shooting a decade ago has been awarded over $800,000 in damages.

32-year-old Thorne Clarke was awarded the money after the government failed to provide a defense to his lawsuit.

Supreme Court Registrar Jonathan Deal awarded Clarke $941,893.91.

However, the amount was reduced to $861,839.91 because Clarke received an $80,000 interim payment to fund an urgent surgery.

Clarke was 22 when he was shot in the back by a police officer in 2016, leaving him paralysed from the sternum down.

He sued the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General in May 2018, and judgment in default of defence was entered against them in September 2019.

On February 15, 2016, Clarke was driving near Windsor Park when he encountered a traffic stop, and a police officer told him to exit the vehicle.

Clarke drove off when the unidentified officer refused to tell him the reason for the command.

The officer fired multiple shots into the back of Clarke’s car and one of the bullets hit him in the back.