England striker Jermain Defoe is suing police over his "unlawful" arrest that left him wrongly "locked in a cell", his lawyer said.
England striker Jermain Defoe is suing police over his "unlawful" arrest that left him wrongly "locked in a cell", his lawyer said.
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The Tottenham Hotspur forward was held for several hours at a police station in Harlow, northeast of London, at the end of July, on suspicion of driving while disqualified.
Defoe, who scored twice Wednesday in England's 2-2 draw with the Netherlands at the Amsterdam Arena, had been disqualified from driving earlier in the month - but the ban was suspended pending an appeal.
The local Essex Police force has apologised for holding Defoe, blaming the mistake on a "computer inputting error".
The 26-year-old has pledged to donate any damages won to charity.
"The claim arises out of Mr Defoe's wrongful arrest for driving whilst disqualified last month," said the star's lawyer Nick Freeman.
"At the time the police were advised by Mr Defoe, and on no less than five occasions by my office, that Mr Defoe was not disqualified and that his detention was unlawful.
"Notwithstanding this, he remained incarcerated in a police cell for approximately five hours until Chelmsford Magistrates' Court confirmed our assertion that he was not disqualified.
"The police should have bailed Mr Defoe when they were put on notice of their error to enable them to pursue their inquiries.
"Instead, in addition to being locked in a cell, the police were unable to recall where his car had been impounded and were not prepared to return his car keys (which also contained house keys) until he produced documentation to his vehicle."
Defoe was convicted of speeding earlier in July by a court in Essex. He was banned from driving for six months but the disqualification was suspended pending an appeal.
And at the start of July, Defoe was fined and given penalty points on his licence for speeding.
"We've formally apologised, acknowledging our mistake, which was due to an inputting error," an Essex Police spokesman said.
"An internal investigation is under way to determine why this error occurred and to ensure that a similar mistake is not repeated in the future."
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