A former prisoner has won nearly half a million pounds after his six-day erection was left untreated while he was locked up in solitary confinement.

Rodney Cotton was awarded £485,000 ($750,000) for suffering “permanent injuries” to his penis that led to a “loss of function”.

He claimed he was ignored by doctors and correctional officers at the Manhattan Detention Centre.

After winning the six-figure sum, the 50-year-old told the New York Daily News: “They took my manhood!

“It’s embarrassing. We’re here to create.

“I can’t perform my duties as a man.”

Cotton was locked up over a parole violation in 2011 and the painful erection was put down to a side-effect of a bipolar drug he was prescribed.

He recalled: “It didn’t go down. It hurt and it started pounding…

“I had to wear briefs or boxers. I couldn’t wear jeans.”

Cotton was eventually recommended for surgery by a jailhouse doctor, but his stitches became embedded in the skin of his penis and they had to be removed while he was conscious.

He had originally filed a £6.5 million ($10 million) lawsuit but settled for the £485,000, though he added: “If I had the choice between the reward and having my manhood restored, I’d have my manhood restored in a heartbeat.

Picture courtesy of DNAInfo