A TEENAGED animal rights activist who was wrongly arrested for suspected charity fraud has lost an eight-year battle for compensation.
Jonathan Proctor, now 24, was arrested in Middlesborough, UK, in 2009 on suspicion of pocketing cash from an animal charity stall he had set up.
But he was released without charge when police suspicions proved groundless.
Mr Proctor, who describes himself as a “sincere and committed activist”, then began a campaign for damages from Cleveland Police, claiming his arrest was unjustified.
But in 2015, Leeds County Court rejected his claim for compensation, saying that the arresting officer did have good reason for suspicion.
Two senior judges then upheld the decision, bringing his eight-year battle for damages to an end.
Lord Justice Gross said: “In my judgment, the officer did have reasonable grounds for suspecting Mr Proctor of committing an offence.
“As is clear from the officer’s evidence, he suspected at the time that Mr Proctor was masquerading as a charity and was intent on keeping the money for himself.
“That the suspicion turned out to be mistaken does not begin to suggest that he did not understand the offence in question.
“It follows that, mistaken though the suspicion turned out to be, I am satisfied that it was reasonable at the time.”
