SINCE the day he was arrested ten years ago, Peter Bleach has protested his innocence.

He does not command great public sympathy. The privately-educated son of a British Army officer who worked as an arms dealer was never going to win any popularity contests. Add to that a conviction for gun-running and any remaining compassion begins to evaporate.

There will be those today who question the decision to grant him legal aid to sue North Yorkshire Police and the Home Office. Should public money be spent on such a man?

The answer has to be yes. Imagine, for a moment, that everything Peter Bleach says is true. That before he dropped the AK47 assault rifles in West Bengal, he informed MI5 and North Yorkshire Police. Suppose his account is accurate, and that the police did tell him to go ahead to lead the Indian authorities to the terrorists. Then, when he was thrown into a hellish Calcutta jail, they abandoned him, a fate which nearly cost him his life.

The story may be a desperate attempt by a ruined man to salvage his reputation. But he has told it with consistency. And Mr Bleach won the backing of former senior Conservative MP Sir Teddy Taylor and Fair Trials Abroad.

If his version is true, this is a scandal that reaches into the heart of the British intelligence services. Therefore it is in the public interest for the taxpayer to fund a court action which might finally flush out some facts from this Calcutta black hole.

Updated: 10:58 Monday, January 16, 2006