Pensioner may sue US over 17 days spent in jail

A British pensioner detained in a South African police cell for more than two weeks is planning legal action against the American authorities who ordered his wrongful detention.

Derek Bond, 72, was suspected of being involved in a multimillion-pound fraud. The United States Attorney General's office issued an apology to Mr Bond yesterday for mistaking him for another man. Speaking at a press conference after his release, the retired civil engineer from Bristol said: "I think they owe me a great deal more than an apology.''

He said he would be consulting his lawyers on a legal claim for compensation against the FBI, whose Houston office had ordered the arrest on suspicion that he was Derek Lloyd Sykes, who is on its most wanted list accused of a telemarketing fraud.

Mr Bond was freed because publicity surrounding the case, and circulation of a picture of Mr Sykes, led to the arrest of a man of that name in Las Vegas on Tuesday night after a tip-off from an anonymous caller with a British accent. The man detained carried identification as Robert James Grant, but admitted he was the Derek Lloyd Sykes being sought and was also carrying a British passport in that name.

Once the FBI had realised its mistake, the order for Mr Bond's release was made and he was set free from the cells at Durban police station yesterday morning. Afterwards, Mr Bond, who was accompanied by his wife, Audrey, 70, broke down in tears, having said it was an "enormous relief'' to be freed.

He added: "Although I have protested my innocence from the beginning, that made little impact on the FBI. I was becoming quite despondent. Nobody took a statement from me until I had been 10 days in the police cells – [and that] was the first time they asked me who I was.'' He added there was "every possibility" he could claim compensation. "I will need to take advice from my lawyers, but there does seem to be a justified claim," he said.

During his 17 days in police custody, Mr Bond was forced to sleep on a concrete floor, with no electricity and only a crossword for company. Mrs Bond, who remained in South Africa throughout the ordeal, said she was "absolutely delighted" with his release. Although the couple are expected to return home immediately, Mr Bond said he would be happy to visit South Africa again.

His ordeal began when the couple arrived in Cape Town on 27 January for a three-week holiday. He was arrested and questioned for several hours but released, only to be held a few days later in a holiday village. He was not interviewed by FBI agents until Monday, although there were suggestions the delay was because he had agreed to be deported to America, a move he believed would clear his name. Mr Bond, a charity worker and Rotarian, bears a resemblance to the police photograph of Mr Sykes posted on the Interpol website. Both men wear glasses and share the same birthdate. But there are discrepancies in hair colour and height. While Mr Sykes was said to wear a toupee, Mr Bond has receding hair.

It has also been alleged that Mr Sykes used the name of Derek Bond as an alias and had the same passport number. Members of Mr Bond's Rotary club said they thought his passport had been stolen two years before his arrest.

Confusion over the men's identities appears to have originated in the London office of the FBI in 2000. Why Mr Bond was not questioned until arriving in South Africa is not clear. John Lewis, of the US Attorney General's Office, confirmed the claims of Mr Bond's family that it had been a case of identity theft and that the person arrested in America had been using the name of Derek Bond since 1989.

"It is very frequent. Obviously it has caused one person an awful lot of harm. He deserves an apology and he certainly gets one from me. I do apologise," Mr Lewis said.