Met makes public apology to Stagg, the man they tried to catch in honeytrap

Outside the Old Bailey today, Assistant Commissioner John Yates read out a statement in which he said sorry on behalf of the force.

It was from the same court that Stagg walked free in 1994 after becoming the victim of a police "honeytrap" operation that had tried to entice him into a confession. But despite his acquittal on the orders of an Old Bailey judge, the cloud of suspicion remained while Ms Nickell's killing went unsolved.

It took until earlier this year for the Home Office to finally pay Mr Stagg more than £700,000 compensation for his wrongful arrest and imprisonment; and until today for Scotland Yard's apology.

Mr Stagg, now 45, told the Evening Standard: "I'm very pleased that my name has been formally cleared at last. It would have been nicer if the Met could have looked me in the eye while they did it, but I'll take what's on offer.

He reserved his vitriol for Paul Britton, the criminal psychologist accused of masterminding the sting operation against him. "I've never had an apology from Britton and I doubt he will ever admit he was so wrong about me," he said. "He's the one person I feel vindictive towards."

Mr Stagg plans to use his compensation to buy his council home in Roehampton which is protected by security cameras following years of abuse. At the time of his arrest he was portrayed as a virgin, a loner and a weirdo but now he has a girlfriend, Terri Marchant, a former friend from his childhood, and a surrogate family he dotes upon.

He has talked of starting a landscape gardening business and even having children with Ms Marchant.

Mr Stagg said he no longer blamed individual officers. "Initially I was very bitter at the way I was treated by the police," he explained.

"Despite being cleared of the murder they privately briefed the press against me. For years I was treated like a pariah by the public and pilloried in newspapers. But over time I came to realise that the murder squad detectives were only trying to do their job. They wanted to do right by Rachel. I respect that now and can even sympathise with their problems."

He admits that at the time of the murder in 1992 his slightly unorthodox lifestyle was seized upon by police — even though he had never had a criminal conviction.

He commented: "According to Paul Britton I fitted the killer's profile like a glove. He masterminded an undercover operation, using a beautiful policewoman, in the hope of trapping me into a confession. It didn't work because I was innocent. I feel no malice towards those officers. It was Britton, the CPS and the senior officers who refused to say that magic word Sorry'".

The baiting on the council estate has ceased now. Back in August when news spread that he had received his compensation, Stagg was welcomed by cheers from neighbours walking past. He is no longer a pariah but was almost the victim of a terrible miscarriage of justice.

"I want to be left alone now to quietly pick up the pieces of my life and enjoy Christmas with my girlfriend and her loving family," added Mr Stagg.