DAVE JONES'S 18 months of hell will cost him around £150,000 - but all he wants back is an apology after being wrongly accused of child abuse.

After being totally cleared on 14 charges at Liverpool Crown Court last week, the former Saints boss, pictured leaving court after day one of his trial, is still waiting for someone to say sorry.

He is to file a formal complaint against the officers involved in Operation Care but is unlikely to press for compensation, preferring to put the ordeal behind him.

Remarkably, he is not bitter even though the nightmare robbed him of his job, his peace of mind, the innocence of children, thousands of pounds and possibly also his father, who died of a stress-related illness.

Jones has not had the final legal bill from Kingsley and Napley, the same lawyers who defended General Pinochet, but it is likely to top £300,000. He has just been warned he may only get around half of that back.

He said: "I could have hired cheaper lawyers but I wanted the best because I felt so strongly about clearing my name.

"I would have sold everything if need be because this is the most vile thing anyone can be accused of.

"It will cost me a lot of money. It has cost my accusers nothing - except a couple of days out of prison!

"I have not yet decided which road to go down but I just want to get back on with my life. I am going to put a letter of complaint in but if I sue for compensation it is going to cost me a lot more money to take a civil action.

"And it will all drag on again for another 18 months and I just want it all to go away, to relax and enjoy my family and to get back into football as soon as possible.

"All my wife Ann and I really want is for someone to say they got it wrong - they know they did.

"Everyone makes mistakes in life but if you do you should apologise. Whoever made the decision to proceed on my case, made one hell of a mistake."

* See Today's Southern Daily Echo for the full Dave Jones story.