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Damages against the police

01 March 1991

Former light-middleweight boxing champion Maurice Hope accepted £50,000 damages from the Metropolitan Police for false arrest and wrongful imprisonment in a High Court settlement. Hope was arrested in October 1988 and charged under the Misuse of Drugs Act and accused of possessing cannabis and having swallowed packets of it while in his car. No evidence was offered against him when he appeared at Crown Court. When asked if he thought his arrest was racially motivated Hope replied: "Not what I think what I know." Frank Nugent a former airport worker received record damages of £114,215 against Metropolitan police officers for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. He spent a year in prison on remand before being acquitted. Mr Nugent claimed that officers at Heathrow police station made up a false confession in which he confessed to taking part in a £300,000 robbery. Four gay activists won £30,000 damages from the Staffordshire police for malicious prosecution. The four were arrested under the Public Order Act outside the home of the leader of Staffordshire council Bill Brownhill after he had suggested gassing or shooting gay men to combat the spread of Aids. The four were held over Christmas but later the charges were dropped. They then sued for malicious prosecution. Guardian 24.11.90; 15.12.90; 15.1.91