A WOMAN has been awarded £20,000 in damages after she sued Cleveland Police for false arrest after being handcuffed in front of her daughter.

Valerie Cadman-Khan was arrested after allegedly leaving her then 12-year-old daughter Aimee, who has Down's Syndrome, unsupervised in a garden for 45 minutes.

The mother-of-five, who is a qualified teacher from Stainton, near Middlesbrough, always denied she had done anything wrong and was determined to clear her name.

The 55-year-old won her case after a court heard that the arresting officer, Detective Sergeant Colin Helyer, “provided false information to Middlesbrough Council’s child abuse investigation unit” and then attempted to mislead a court with what a judge branded “freestyle lying”.

Mrs Cadman-Khan said: “All I ever wanted was to clear my name,” she said. “I would not give up until that was done.

“Aimee was traumatised by this, she slept in our room for two years after that and still sleeps with the light on. As I was led away that day all I could hear was her screaming ‘I want my mum, I want my mum.’

“He tried to put a case against me that I was an unfit mother, but if I’m good at anything I’m a good mother. This child is my life.”

A dispute with bailiffs over an unpaid council tax bill led to police being called to the Middlesbrough home of Mrs Cadman-Khan’s ex-husband on the morning of November 13, 2008.

In her award judgement Judge Gillian Matthews QC said Sgt Helyer’s actions that day “were completely disproportionate”.

“I completely understand that policing can be a difficult and dangerous job,” she said. “This however was not one of those days.

“If Sgt Helyer could not cope with this lady, who was clearly rushing out to attend upon her child as he had requested, without applying handcuffs, I do not know how he would deal with a crowd of drunks on Saturday night."

She added that Sgt Helyer’s actions that day were “not just ill advised and disproportionate but, arbitrary, high handed, intimidating and oppressive.”

Deputy Chief Constable Iain Spittal said: “I have offered my sincere apologies to Mrs Cadman-Khan and for the upset that has been caused to her and her family.

“Police officers are trained to deal with difficult situations calmly and to react in a reasonable and proportionate manner. It is clear that this did not happen in Mrs Cadman-Khan’s case.

“I have read the judgement with great care and we are taking active steps to ensure we learn from the mistakes which were made, so that similar incidents don’t happen in the future.

“The judgement has been provided to our Professional Standards Department to determine whether any formal action will be taken against the officer in line with Police Conduct Regulations.”