Former Military Officer Awarded Nearly £9,000 After 'Unlawful' Arrest by Greater Manchester Police

Manchester Met. County – A decorated former military police officer has been awarded almost £9,000 in damages after a judge ruled he was unlawfully arrested and falsely imprisoned by Greater Manchester Police for nearly 12 hours.

Paul Nugent, 62, a security consultant from Heywood, launched a civil action against the force after being taken into custody following a domestic dispute in January 2020. The veteran, who served in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, claimed he was the victim of an assault during the incident.

In May, Judge Khan at Manchester Civil Court sided with Mr. Nugent, allowing his claim for unlawful arrest and false imprisonment. He was awarded £8,746.52 in compensation, with Greater Manchester Police also ordered to pay costs of £35,000.

While Greater Manchester Police’s initial request to appeal the ruling was refused a month later, the Chief Constable has now escalated the case by applying to the High Court in a bid to have the decision overturned.

The arrest was the culmination of a harrowing ordeal for Mr. Nugent, who told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the experience drove him to the brink of suicide. He discovered through a 'subject access request' that a police officer he had never met had identified him in police reports as a, "high-risk abuse perpetrator".

Mr. Nugent revealed that he was also wrongly accused of sexually assaulting the woman over an eight-month period. He maintains his innocence, stating that for five of those months he was working abroad in Bulgaria as a health and safety officer for a Burnley-based company.

He claims that on three separate occasions between May 2019 and March 2021, police attempted to bring sexual assault charges against him. Each time, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) concluded there was no evidence to proceed with a prosecution.

The fight to clear his name from the stigma of the allegations has taken a severe toll. Mr. Nugent says he has spent over £20,000 on legal fees and hiring a private investigator. He has also undergone counselling for anxiety, fear, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), describing, "darkest moments", when he contemplated taking his own life.

Mr. Nugent spent years attempting to clear his name amid the stigma of being a rape suspect.

Mr. Nugent's distinguished career saw him serve with the Royal Military Police before being attached to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where he worked in numerous British embassies worldwide.

Greater Manchester Police declined to comment on the specifics of the case but confirmed that the force is appealing the civil court's decision to the High Court.