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A father of four, who was mistakenly arrested on suspicion of stealing a car and misusing its owner’s bank card, has accepted an out-of-court compensation payment in settlement of a legal case he brought against South Wales Police, alleging he was forced to have surgery on injuries he sustained.

John Sultana, 50, of Fairwater, Cardiff, was arrested while on a Sunday afternoon shopping trip.

At the time a police officer and a number of PCSOs were involved in a crime reduction exercise at the Culverhouse Cross shopping centre on the outskirts of the capital.

The police officer spotted Mr Sultana near a cashpoint and concluded that he may have been involved in an incident three weeks earlier, when a car was stolen and its owner’s bank card used to withdraw money from the same cashpoint.

Part of the incident was recorded on a mobile phone.

Mr Sultana can be heard protesting – though without using offensive language – that he had done nothing wrong. Police reinforcements were called to the scene.

Mr Sultana claims he was forcibly handcuffed and that an officer pressed down with his boot on the handcuffs, causing severe pain and injuries to his arms. He was taken to Barry Police Station and later released without charge.

South Wales Police have now agreed to pay Mr Sultana compensation for his injuries as well as his legal costs.

He said: “I feel vindicated and am grateful to my legal team for securing this settlement for me. I believe that with costs, the police will have to pay around £100,000. In my view they should have apologised and settled this much earlier. They’ve wasted a lot of taxpayers’ money. I’m still annoyed that they haven’t given me an apology or disciplined those involved who gave statements that were contradicted by the video evidence.”

South Wales Police director of legal services Mr Gareth Madge, said: “Both parties have been able to reach a settlement of this civil claim without any admission of liability. As a publicly-funded organisation, South Wales Police is always mindful of the cost to public funds and on occasions a settlement on this basis, in accordance with legal advice, is the most appropriate course of action.”