A landmark legal ruling in the Bahamas has ordered the government to pay nearly $1 million in damages to a man who was left permanently paralyzed following a 2016 police shooting, prompting the nation’s top law enforcement official to call for proactive settlement of civil claims where the state acknowledges liability.
Seven years after a default judgment was entered against the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General’s office, which failed to submit a legal defense in Thorne Clarke’s civil lawsuit, a court has awarded Clarke $941,893.91 in compensation. The payout is one of the largest civil damages awards against the state in Bahamian history, coming almost a decade after a police bullet severed 22-year-old Clarke’s spinal cord during a late-night encounter near Wilson Tract.
The details of what led to the shooting remain contested. Official police accounts state that officers were searching for a suspect when they located Clarke in his mother’s van, surrounded the vehicle, and ordered him to exit. When Clarke allegedly refused to comply and attempted to drive away, an officer opened fire out of fear that he would be struck by the vehicle. Clarke’s account differs sharply: he says he stopped when ordered, asked for an explanation that was never provided, and was shot in the upper back as he began to pull away. The bullet entered the back of the van, severing his spinal cord and leaving him unable to control his legs before the van crashed into a nearby wall.
As a result of the injury, Clarke has permanently lost the use of his lower body and normal function of his bladder, bowel, and reproductive organs. He now relies on a wheelchair for all mobility.
In the wake of the award, Attorney General Wayne Munroe argued that the government should prioritize settling civil cases where state liability is clear, rather than allowing prolonged litigation to rack up unnecessary public costs. “If what happened means that the government is liable, my approach is that you move to settle the matter without incurring unnecessary cost in a litigation,” Munroe explained.
Munroe noted that he has not yet received a full accounting of the facts surrounding the 2016 shooting and could not explain why no defense was ever filed in Clarke’s original lawsuit. He added that when police officers are named in civil claims, his office requires sufficient evidence to mount a legal defense. In cases where no evidence exists to contest a claim or liability is obvious, he said, the only remaining question is the appropriate amount of damages.
The Attorney General’s office is currently reviewing the award to assess whether any portion of it will be appealed. The review process is designed to confirm that the registrar’s damage assessment aligns with Bahamian law. “The only issue for the Attorney General’s Office is whether it is excessive or not,” Munroe said. “If it’s not excessive, then you send through the papers to get it paid. If it’s excessive in any regard, then you would have the parts that you say are excessive appealed.”
Munroe declined to speculate on whether the officer or officers involved in the shooting remain active members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, or whether any disciplinary action has been taken against them. He confirmed that officers found to have violated conduct rules would face internal disciplinary measures, but noted that civil compensation for wrongful conduct does not automatically mean an officer committed a disciplinary offense.
Commissioner of Police Shanta Knowles declined to comment on the case when contacted, saying she would first need to review details of an incident that occurred “many years ago.”