The police will have to stump up £50,000 after it emerged they arrested the wrong Manchester United fan before an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley in 2011.
51-year-old Alan Taylor was helping a friend who had been knocked to the ground when police wrongly believed he was responsible for interfering with the arrest of another fan.
As a result he was handcuffed and arrested before being taken to a police station. He was held there until 2am the next morning, missing his side’s defeat at the hands of Manchester City.
Quoted in The Mirror, Mr. Taylor describes how he recalled walking by a group of City supporters and then realising that one of his friends was lying on the ground.
“I lifted him, turned him and pushed him in the direction we were supposed to be going to get to our turnstiles,” Mr Taylor said.
“As I was about to follow, I was grabbed from behind and pushed against the stadium wall. That’s when I was arrested.”
Later, he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
“The worst thing was that my friends and family knew I had been arrested,” he added. “My kids saw me go to the football every week, and then one night I didn’t come home.”
