A man who spent six years in prison for a crime he did not commit yesterday spoke of his feeling of "closure" after being awarded almost £170,000 in compensation.

Alex Allan has maintained his innocence ever since he was arrested in 1990 for allegedly taking part in the robbery of a post office van in Dudley, North Tyneside.

The postman was attacked and sacks of mail stolen but the main evidence against Mr Allan was a confession he was alleged to have made to police officers when arrested.

Mr Allan was jailed the following year, just days before his 30th birthday, and served six years of an eight-year sentence - always claiming he had never confessed.

Two appeals against his conviction failed but, after his release in 1997 his case was taken up by Northumbria University's Student Law Office.

It helped him, finally, to quash his conviction at the Court of Appeal in 2001, where the court heard of "a clear question mark" over the reliability of the confession.

Now the Home Office, which intitally refused to compensate the father-of-two, has awarded him £169,550.

Mr Allan, now 45, yesterday said no amount of money could reclaim the time he lost, but said the award would finally give him "closure" on his experience.

After moving to Southampton, the trained welder is now back on Tyneside and spending time with daughters Rachel, 24, and Cheryl, 23, who gave birth to Mr Allan's grandson Thomas six months ago.

He was one of six people arrested at a house near the robbery scene, three of whom were also jailed, but has always said he had only gone there to visit an acquaintance.

Mr Allen, of Relton Avenue, Byker, Newcastle, said: "I thought I would be out of the police station the next day. I never thought for one minute I would go to prison. The day I was released I had a sense of injustice as bad as the first day I was sentenced. I couldn't enjoy my freedom because of it."

"Winning the appeal was the ultimate vindication. Getting the compensation is just the closure. At least now my family understands why I didn't put in for parole. I could have been out in two and a half years if I admitted guilt."

Mr Allen said he now enjoys runs with friends along Tynemouth beach, and coaching a football team from the Lord Clyde pub in Byker, where new partner Jan Thompson is the landlady.

John Morgan, who was one of the students who worked on the claim, and is now a solicitor at Newcastle-based Dickinson Dees, said: "This is fantastic news for Alex. He suffered a very serious miscarriage of justice and has now had this overturned and obtained proper compensation. I am delighted for him and believe it is a real vindication of the Student Law Office at Northumbria University."

Northumbria Police last night declined to comment on the case.

Page 2: A 'David and Goliath' battle