THREE youths were unlawfully arrested and detained and a police dog was turned on one of them.

But it has taken three years and a private prosecution to prove it after an internal police investigation had cleared the officer involved.

One of the victims, Mark Brooks, who like the others was only 16 at the time, suffered injuries and he took several weeks to recover from his ordeal after PC Gary Mitchell unleashed an Alsation dog on him.

After a jury decided the men's detention was against the law a judge ordered Mr Brooks compensation of £3,500 for the dog attack and £1,000 for unlawful arrest. The other two men are to receive £250 for unlawful arrest.

Mr Brooks' mother is unhappy with the compensation and we share her opinion that it is "absolute rubbish". Her son and his friends had no previous convictions and had done nothing to provoke the treatment they received.

The police obviously needed to question the youths when they came across them while chasing the occupants of a stolen car, but there was no justification for setting the police dog on one of them.

Greater Manchester Police have declined to comment about the case. We think they should apologise to the men publicly, and explain why an internal inquiry rejected their complaint.

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