Wrong man jailed in child sex case

A MAN spent five months in jail because he shared the name of a child sex offender – and was only freed after victims and the offender’s family said he was the wrong man.

Mohamed Camara was arrested on an international arrest warrant in the name of the other man - who was also born in Guinea in 1973 - but police and courts refused to believe his claims of innocence.

His namesake had been sentenced to 20 years in jail in Paris in 2001 for child sex offences but had absconded and an international warrant issued.

Mr Camara was arrested in Brussels in 2001 and spent three months in prison there before being transferred to La Santé jail in Paris.

Since being freed he had suffered psychological problems, which had forced him to quit studying for a social sciences degree in Nantes.

Now he has been offered €12,000 compensation – but his lawyer has claimed €180,000 for the case which is a legal precedent. The law does not cover compensation for a wrongful arrest under such circumstances and the case has gone to the Paris appeal court.