First published on Tuesday 15 August 2000:

Disabled man turns down payout offer

Invalid Raymond Easton has been offered £2,000 compensation by police after he was arrested for a burglary he did not commit.

Parkinson's disease sufferer Mr Easton was arrested on the basis of DNA evidence which later proved false.

He says the amount is an insult and has instructed his solicitor to ask for at least £500 more.

He said: It is not the amount, it is the principle of the thing and what they are offering is not enough for what I have gone through.

Mr Easton, 49, of Pound Lane, Pinehurst, was arrested last year by Swindon Police for a burglary which he was supposed to have committed 200 miles away in Bolton.

Despite not being able to dress or bath himself and being unable to walk more than 10 yards unassisted, Mr Easton was arrested in April and charged with a burglary during which electrical equipment worth £440 was taken.

Police matched the DNA found at the crime scene to Mr Easton's, which was on file from a domestic incident four years ago that resulted in a caution.

He was told the chances of it being wrong were one in 37 million.

Despite this evidence against him, Mr Easton was adamant that on the day the burglary was committed he was at home, looking after his unwell 16-year-old daughter Xaena.

After being arrested by Swindon police on behalf of Greater Manchester police he was kept in a cell from 9am to 4pm.

Mr Easton's solicitor demanded another DNA test, which was more accurate than the first and led to the case being dropped.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police would only confirm the force does have a compensation claim being made against it and is waiting to hear from Mr Easton.