An innocent Hampshire man suffered years of misery after being confused with a sex offender - but it took a judge to force an apology from the council department responsible...

AS THE buff-coloured envelope dropped though Derek Collings's letterbox, he knew its contents would, at last, end his personal nightmare.

The 35-year-old electrical contractor had endured a living hell for nearly seven years after he was mistakenly branded a paedophile by Hampshire County Council.

His life has been turned upside down by the false allegations made against him by the local authority and he has battled tirelessly to clear his name so he can get on with his life.

Having a name like Collings, Derek was used to it being spelt incorrectly.

But this time the mistake was to cause him untold heartache and even lead to him contemplating suicide.

"With a name like mine, you can understand I have spent my whole life correcting it when people get it wrong.

"Sometimes I didn't even bother, but this time the mistake was to be so serious it would quite literally change my whole life," he said.

The nightmare unfolded for Derek as the result of chance remarks made during the course of his working day.

He installs burglar alarm equipment for a Romsey-based firm and back in 1998 he was fitting equipment at a social services office.

A social worker decided to look him up on their records following a conversation with Derek.

But the checks turned up the name of a convicted paedophile who lived ten miles from Derek.

The two men have similar surnames but they are spelt differently. They have different middle names and different dates of birth.

Yet these key differences were apparently not spotted and failed to prevent the injustice which unfolded.

Indeed, six months later, the council wrote to Derek's bosses telling them he could no longer work at council properties which held children or their records - about 40 per cent of the company's business.

The letter read: "It would be inappropriate for Mr Collings to continue to carry out work in any Hampshire County Council site where there may be substantial access to children or their records.

"You will appreciate we have a duty to protect children and young people who come into the care of the county council whether at school or as part of the work of social services.

"This letter is to formally instruct you that Mr Collings must no longer carry out any work in Hampshire County Council Social Services premises, including offices, or Hampshire County Council schools and residential centres from this date onwards."

Naturally his bosses were deeply concerned and demanded answers from Derek.

"I went with my boss to the police station and I paid to get a copy of my record. Other than a couple of driving convictions I was clean - there was nothing to suggest I was a paedophile.

"I took my birth certificate to the council to try to prove to them there had been a horrible mistake.

"I assumed the whole thing could be sorted out really quickly but little was I to know what lay ahead.

"What started as a simple error was compounded by the actions of the council.

"I can accept that mistakes happen but instead of owning up and allowing me to get on with my life, they took seven years to admit they were wrong," he said.

Perhaps most disturbing of all, a confidential "client notification file" compiled by Hampshire Social Services on the convicted paedophile was amended so that it appeared to relate instead to innocent Derek.

The surname was changed to Derek's name even though the middle name remained that of the paedophile, as did the date of birth.

The client reference number listed on the form was also crossed out and a new one added together with Derek's home address which now appeared on page one alongside various known addresses of the paedophile.

A note inside revealed yet more council confusion because it requested information on the paedophile's possible employment with a security company, when, in fact, Derek was on the payroll.

The Daily Echo has seen the official paperwork with the added inaccuracies clearly visible.

Derek claims staff were told to terminate telephone calls from him and hang up when he tried to contact them.

Derek's employer has stood by him throughout the ordeal and even faced losing contracts because of their support for him.

However letters from Hampshire County Council have continued to arrive at Derek's home address in Gosport bearing the name of the convicted paedophile.

"Even the head of the legal team, Jeremy Penny, referred to me with the wrong name - letters sent as recently as July this year used that name even though they knew it was wrong," he said.

The allegations against Derek were made at a time when feelings were running very high over paedophiles.

There were the nightly protests in Paulsgrove in Portsmouth and the home of a paediatrician was wrongly targeted by an angry mob.

"I was terrified. I found it really difficult to get to sleep at night worrying that I might be attacked in my home," he said.

"My window was smashed, pervert was written down the side of my car and my tyres were slashed as well.

"The attack happened after it appeared in the papers that I was suing Hampshire County Council."

Fed up with the slur against his name and unable to make the local authority see sense, Derek decided to take the matter to court in 2001.

But he was left to pick up a legal bill after his libel action against Hampshire County Council failed.

He said: "The judge felt it was not in the public interest to sue the council as the mistake happened in the course of efforts to protect the public, but where did that leave me?"

A council spokesman said after the case : "We have always maintained that this was nothing more than a misunderstanding and that the officers always acted properly."

The case judge, Mr Justice Morland, nonetheless asked the council make an apology to Derek - something which never materialised.

Derek refused to give up and three years later was in court again where Judge Davis heard the worrying details.

Judge Davis, sitting in Portsmouth Crown Court, revealed she had secured a cassette tape with a recording of the 2001 hearing - including the then Judge's demand for an apology. She, in turn, now demanded the apology be made to Derek within 14 days.

Finally the legal team representing Hampshire County Council agreed to put an apology in writing.

"At last, after all the anguish and heartache, I have the piece of paper in my hands which tells me they are sorry for what they have done to me," he said.

Derek now plans to launch a legal action for compensation and his claim could net him £50,000.

"That money represents so-called liquidated damages or actual loss of income. But what price do you put on a life ruined by this slur?" he asked.

Steve Love, Hampshire County Council social services assistant director for children and families, said: "It is not appropriate for us to comment in the press on this individual case, however I am happy to consider a request from Mr Collings to review his particular concerns."