A judge yesterday ordered a police force to hand over £100 to a convicted IRA bomber who was once jailed for 1,000 years.

Scott Monaghan, 38, sued the police after he was arrested over the attempted assassination of a double agent on the British mainland.

Monaghan was detained and questioned by Northumbria Police after Martin McGartland was shot as he sat in his car on June 17, 1999.

The Glasgow-born bomb maker sued for false imprisonment, assault and interference with goods after he was released without charge over the incident.

At the High Court, sitting in Newcastle yesterday, Mr Justice Bean threw out his claim - but awarded him £100 for property retained by the Northumbria force after his arrest.

Mr McGartland was living on Tyneside under a secret identity after he was caught infiltrating the IRA.

Monaghan, who was a computer student at Glasgow University when the shooting took place, had been released from Belfast's Maze prison under the Good Friday agreement in October the year before the incident.

He had been serving a 989- year sentence for a string of terror offences.

Monaghan issued a High Court writ against Northumbria Police in June 2003 over claims he was handcuffed, zipped into a forensic suit, which covered his head and face, and then put into a sealed box in a van for a three-hour drive.

He said he was not allowed to use the toilet for the first six hours of his detention.

According to his writ, he "suffered loss of liberty, pain, anxiety, distress, damage to his reputation, psychiatric injury, injury to feelings, humiliation, inconvenience, loss and damage" as a result of what happened.

His claim for false imprisonment, assault and wrongful interference with goods was heard during a six-day trial at the High Court, sitting in Newcastle.

Mr Justice Bean yesterday dismissed Monaghan's claim and said it had been "legally reasonable" to place him in handcuffs.

He added: "The possibility of an attempted escape from the van could not have been ruled out."

Mr Justice Bean found in favour of Monaghan in relation to personal property which was seized during his arrest but not returned until four years later.

After a short discussion between counsel in the case, the figure of £100 was agreed, which the judge ordered should be paid to Monaghan.

During the trial, Monaghan's barrister, Hugh Tomlinson, said intelligence leading up to Monaghan's arrest was "extremely weak" and added: "In fact, he (Monaghan) was in Glasgow at all relevant times."

Monaghan and a Belfast taxi driver were both released without charge after being questioned over the shooting.

Deputy Chief Constable David Warcup said: "We felt from the outset that the arrest of this man was legitimate in the light of intelligence gathered during the inquiry into the shooting.

"Once in custody, he was treated in exactly the same way as anyone else held on suspicion of committing such a serious offence. We apologise for the issue around his property and trust that the judge's award fairly compensates Mr Monaghan for this.