Apology to first Rachel suspect

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Assistant Commissioner John Yates said "mistakes were made" as Colin Stagg was targeted by detectives pursuing her killer.

He said: "In August 1993 he was wrongly accused of Miss Nickell's murder. It is clear he is completely innocent of any involvement in this case and I apologise to him for the mistakes that were made in the early 1990s.

"We also recognise the huge and lasting impact this had on his life and, on behalf of the Metropolitan Police, I have today sent him a full written apology."

Stagg was the target of a discredited police honey trap operation using an undercover woman police officer who tried to get him to confess.

But the case against the loner, who lives in Roehampton, south west London, was thrown out by an Old Bailey judge.

Stagg was awarded a record £706,000 compensation from the Home Office earlier this year, which he described as "like winning the lottery".