Staines lawyer won six-figure payout for Stagg

Mr Tribick recalled this week how he got involved in the long-running case when Stagg called him 'out of the blue' in 2002.

He said: "The voice on the phone said 'You don't know who I am, but I know a lot about you and I'd like you to be my lawyer. I'm Colin Stagg'."

Six years on, the rugby-playing lawyer says Mr Stagg deserves every penny of the compensation he received for his wrongful arrest for the murder of Rachel Nickell, who was stabbed 49 times and sexually assaulted in front of her two-year-old son Alex as they walked across Wimbledon Common in 1992.

Mr Tribick added: "When I first saw the amount of the payout I was stunned. I just sat quietly at my desk waiting for the full impact to sink in. Colin had finally received justice for a terrible 16 year ordeal. He deserved every penny for what the state had put him through.

"When I phoned him with the news he took it quite calmly. There was no triumphalism and he thanked me very graciously.

"He is not angry. He is hurt and disappointed. But Colin is realistic enough to realise and accept that his name, no matter what happens, will always be synonymous with the tragic events of Rachell Nickell's death and in some people's eyes he will always be the bloke who got away with murder."

In 1993 Mr Stagg was arrested and charged with the murder of the 23-year-old model but after 13 months in custody an Old Bailey judge threw out the case.

The 45-year-old, who was vilified by the public and deemed unemployable by his local Job Centre because of his 'pariah' status, was awarded £668,253, with £37,548.67 legal costs on August 11.

Mr Stagg said: "I would like to pay tribute to Alex Tribick. Without him this award would never have happened. He kept badgering the Home Office even after I had given up hope. It was his perseverance that forced them to act and I will always be grateful to him."