A compensation claim by Sinn Fein Assembly member Mr Alex Maskey against the RUC was settled in the High Court in Belfast yesterday. The terms were not revealed but Mr Maskey is likely to get damages. A lawyer said the RUC had agreed to pay his legal costs. The action arose out of an incident five years ago when UFF gunmen fired shots through a window of Mr Maskey's home in west Belfast. After the attack, he was charged with assaulting a policewoman and was fined.
But the conviction was overturned on appeal and in his action yesterday Mr Maskey claimed aggravated and exemplary damages for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.