Sign up to FREE email alerts from YorkshireLive - ExaminerLive Daily Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A college worker and Kirklees union steward has received a £12,000 payout from police.

Paul Sutcliffe, 47, a technology technician at Kirklees College’s Highfields Centre in Huddersfield, was one of three men who sued over their arrests at an anti-fascist demonstration.

Mr Sutcliffe, Jason Travis and Dane Kelly were among 74 people arrested amid clashes in Bolton town centre in March 2010.

Violence erupted as rival demonstrations by the English Defence League (EDL) and Unite Against Fascism (UAF) came together.

Mr Sutcliffe, of Halifax, was accused of scuffling with police trying to arrest someone else and swearing at officers, calling them ‘Nazis’.

He was charged with a public order offence but denied all the allegations.

Eventually, after video footage obtained by campaign group Justice for Bolton was shown to prosecutors, the case against the three men was dropped.

The men lodged civil claims against Greater Manchester Police (GMP) claiming wrongful detention, malicious prosecution and denial of rights under the EU charter on human rights.

GMP agreed to settle out of court with no admission of liability.

Mr Sutcliffe and Mr Travis received £12,000 each while Mr Kelly was awarded £15,000.

Mr Sutcliffe, a Unison steward at Kirklees College, went to Bolton to join other union activists.

He told how when he got there police had cordoned off the main square outside Bolton Town Hall.

He claimed that at about 10.30am – even before the EDL arrived – he was “snatched” by two police officers and detained.

Police later offered to release him if he signed a document admitting his guilt and paid an £80 fine.

He refused and was released after three hours.

Mr Sutcliffe was subsequently charged but believed video evidence would clear him as he had done nothing wrong.

He appeared in court in Bolton three times but police refused to release videos to his solicitor.

Two days before his trial Mr Sutcliffe said he received a call from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) saying they were posting him copies of DVDs.

However, later that evening, the CPS rang back to say the footage could not be released because of “operational matters.”

Fortunately, Justice for Bolton had obtained some other video.

After this was shown to the CPS at court, the prosecution offered no evidence.

Three years after his arrest Mr Sutcliffe accepted a settlement and said: “Money may be useful but it doesn’t erase three years of worry about what is going to happen in your life.

“I did nothing wrong yet I was put through hell.

“Ironically video footage is a two-way street. Many people have video facilities on their phones nowadays.

“The police should be answerable for their actions.”

Paul Holmes, Kirklees Unison branch secretary, praised Mr Sutcliffe’s courage and said: “This is a concerning story.

“Paul is a resilient person who stood by his principles despite enormous pressure.

“His whole future livelihood was at stake.

“His story is one of bravery, courage and fortitude.

“Every individual has the right to demonstrate. If they don’t have that right we all know what follows.”

A spokesman for the Greater Manchester Police said dozens of people were arrested for a variety of offences.

He added: “A number of these people were charged and subsequently convicted, some had no further action taken against them and others were dealt with by other means, such as through cautions or fixed penalty notices.

“In addition we have reached out of court settlements with a small number of people arrested that day that brought civil claims and it was a term of the settlement reached with them that there would be no admission of liability.

“As the force has publicly stated on a number of occasions, the officers involved in policing the protest that day did so in an extremely difficult and challenging situation against large groups engaged in committing disorder and acting, at times, with extreme violence towards the police.”