A GOOD Samaritan has spoken of his shock at being sprayed with CS gas and falsely imprisoned.

Cleveland Police must compensate Craig Vincent, 23, to the tune of £15,000, after a jury at Teesside Crown Court found in his favour.

The judge in the case, who only last month heard how another civilian, Darren Watson, was attacked by officers at Stockton police station, called the incidents a "public disgrace".

Last night, Mr Vincent described how the attack, by PC Philip Sylvester, occurred after he rushed to help a man who had fallen downstairs outside the Madison nightclub, in Middlesbrough.

The council worker said: "It happened more or less right in front of me, and he didn't half hit the floor with a bang. He was unconscious and he had a gash under his chin. He could have bled to death if I had left him."

Mr Vincent raced to alert the nearest policeman, but was stunned when PC Sylvester told him to "go away, I'm too busy".

He said: "The policeman said I had just passed a phone box and told me to go away or he would lock me up. Then he grabbed hold of my shirt and pulled me towards him and sprayed me on the back of my neck and my ear. I was totally shocked. I didn't know what had happened at first."

But the ordeal was far from over. Mr Vincent, of Homerton Road, Middlesbrough, was taken to the police station and held for five hours, in pain.

He said: "I couldn't breathe or see. For about half an hour I couldn't even open my eyes. Now I have no confidence in the police whatsoever. I don't know if I would do the same thing again."

Mr Vincent's award, with Mr Watson's £25,000 compensation, will cost local ratepayers more than £100,000, which is five times more than if the force had admitted its guilt.

At Friday's court hearing, Judge Michael Taylor said: "It is a public disgrace, and the ratepayers will wish to know what's going on."

A spokesman for Cleveland Police said that PC Sylvester had considered his personal safety to be at risk.

He said: "The officers were dealing with a serious situation when Mr Vincent approached them in what they perceived to be an aggressive manner."

The spokesman said no disciplinary action was being taken against PC Sylvester.