a tirade of anti-American abuse from officers wrote to Police last Monday demanding compensation.

Allen Turner is seeking money for his alleged wrongful arrest and imprisonment, and possibly exemplary damages.

Mr. Turner, 26, was arrested on Friday on suspicion of stealing a T-shirt from Trimingham Brothers in Hamilton but said he was later released without charge.

The Royal Gazette revealed yesterday that Mr. Turner, an American, alleged the officers who arrested him in Par-la-Ville Park some time after he left the store made a series of abusive anti-American remarks.

He said, although Trimingham's security called Police, he was never given the chance to show officers his receipt from AS Coopers for the T-shirt.

He claimed that Police officers called him an "American a**hole'', a "dumb American'' and a "f***ing idiot''.

Mr. Turner, an investment representative who works in Parkville, Maryland, has a Bermudian mother and was educated at the Berkeley Institute.

His lawyer Marc Telemaque told The Royal Gazette : "He has instructed me to write to the Police outlining his position with respect to compensation for wrongful arrest, wrongful imprisonment, also the possibility of exemplary damages for the manner in which this entire affair has been handled.

"He has given instructions which accord with his previously published comments.'' A Police spokesman said: "Mr. Turner has made a formal complaint so we will be investigating it through the Complaints and Discipline Department.'' CRIME CRM