Cleveland Police in huge damages payout to lawyer

Cleveland Police have agreed to pay £550,000 in damages after prominent defence lawyer James Watson was falsely imprisoned, BBC Newsnight has learned.

The unprecedented payout includes £80,000 in exemplary damages - the maximum possible amount.

The force admits falsely imprisoning Mr Watson and his family when the lawyer was arrested in 2009, wrongful interference with his belongings and trespass.

They also agreed to remove any vestige of suspicion from police records.

As part of its settlement agreement, Cleveland Police have also accepted that they cannot defend against claims that the search warrants used to search Mr Watson's home and office were maliciously procured, or that officers' behaviour amounted to "misfeasance" - an abuse of power.

Zoe Conway reports for Newsnight.