LONDON (AFP) Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Comedian and activist Mark Thomas has received a Ã‚Â£1,200 payout after police admitted they stopped and searched him just for looking ‘over-confident’ at a rally, according to a report on Tuesday.

London’s Metropolitan Police said they unlawfully stopped Thomas, 47, and searched his bag at an anti-arms trade demonstration in the capital in 2007, the Guardian wrote.

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According to the newspaper, a police officer involved in the incident said he suspected Thomas, who gave a speech at the rally, could be carrying weapons in his shoulder bag as he had an “over-confident attitude”.

The officer was quoted as saying in a legal document: “If we only stopped and searched people who looked nervous and shifty and didn’t stop the ones who looked over-confident you would be able to get one past us.” Nothing was found in the search.

The Met Police has apologised to Thomas and paid out Ã‚Â£1,200 for “falsely imprisoning” him for 12 minutes, the daily wrote.

“If over-confidence is a reason for a stop-and-search, Jonathan Ross should never leave his house,” Thomas told the Guardian.

The comedian said he would donate some of the money to the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation.

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In January, the European Court of Human Rights ruled it was illegal for police to stop and search people without grounds for suspicion.