VICTIM’S STORY

I was at home with my wife then I was being held in handcuffs. I thought I was going insane. It was terrifying

The victim of Police Scotland’s mistaken identity has told how he thought he was going insane as he spent four nights behind bars after his protestations of innocence were ignored.

Gary Webb’s ordeal began when detectives turned up at his door with a warrant for the arrest of a completely different person.

Former timber yard manager Mr Webb, 60, who has no criminal convictions, was confronted at home at 9pm on April 9, 2015 by two plainclothed detectives.

The DCs, acting on a warrant issued by Hamilton Sheriff Court, held a photo of the real suspect next to Mr Webb’s face and judged them to be the same person.

Mr Webb showed his passport, driving licence and photos around his home as proof of mistaken identity.

The officers said they had to check fingerprints to be sure and asked Mr Webb to accompany them to the station.

Mr Webb agreed, thinking he was helping to quickly solve the mix-up but as soon as he got to the police car he was handcuffed.

The grandfather was then taken to Lorebank Police Station, in Dumfries, had his fingerprints taken and was held in a freezing cell overnight.

The following morning, despite his protests, police swabbed DNA from his cheek and made him pose for a mugshot while holding a plaque bearing the name of the warrant suspect.

Mr Webb recalled: “I couldn’t believe what was happening.

“I was at home with my wife then being held in cuffs with no one believing who I was and facing the worst kind of criminal charges imaginable. I thought

I was going insane. How could no one believe I was me? It was terrifying.”

Mr Webb was taken to Hamilton Sheriff Court where the clerk of court read out the name of the warrant suspect. Again, this time in court, Mr Webb, who was represented by a duty solicitor he had met just minutes before, told officials they had the wrong man.

The hearing was briefly adjourned while the Sheriff and fiscal deliberated.

But when the hearing reconvened the fiscal told the sheriff they had police reports to confirm Mr Webb was the right suspect and proceedings should continue.

Mr Webb was then taken to Addiewell Prison in a G4S van, where he was strip-searched and locked in solitary confinement.

But four days after his arrest, Mr Webb received a Procurator Fiscal release and all charges were dropped. He was given a train ticket and told to make his own way home.

Mr Webb added: “I had to leave my work as my mental health was affected.

“The PIRC did a fantastic job and left no stone unturned. Without them and my own legal team I wouldn’t be where I am now.

“But Police Scotland and its behaviour has been utterly despicable. My life has been completely trashed.”

Mr Webb’s solicitors, Digby Brown, found that when his fingerprints were taken, along with other clear evidence, Dumfries police repeatedly told Lanarkshire colleagues they had arrested the wrong man.

The actual suspect named in the warrant was arrested in England a few weeks after Mr Webb’s arrest.