The daughter of a 94-year-old peaceful protester who had his details stored on an “extremism” database by police has called for it to be shut down.

Linda Catt spoke of her relief on Thursday as the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of her father John, finding that police who stored his personal details and monitored his movements had breached his human rights.

She said the Government and police chiefs fought the case “tooth and nail” and her father was made to feel like a “criminal” but she was proud of his resolve to get justice.

She told the Press Association: “This is huge relief, it’s been going on for years.

“They were defending the indefensible. It is a huge miscarriage of justice.

“The case took a long time to be heard and we were hoping it would be considered much quicker given my father’s age.

“But he was not deterred or demoralised.

“I’m very proud of him.”

She said he and others like him were being “criminalised” but had done “nothing wrong” and were only exercising their democratic right to protest, adding: “It’s insulting.”

Police would film her father at demonstrations, take pictures of him and note observations, even putting a mark on his car as he travelled to events in other parts of the country, she said.

But she said the oddest thing was when they recorded that he liked to sketch the scene of the demonstration – showing protesters and police.

She said: “I think it infuriated them.”

Now she has demanded an apology as well as confirmation her father’s details would be completely removed from the database.

She also called on the Home Office to look at disbanding the database altogether and wants to know why Sussex Police allowed officers to take the action in the first place.

She said: “I think the database should be closed down.

“It was very difficult to find anything out about this clandestine unit.

“I feel it’s being used in an abusive way, I can’t see what intelligence value it has for officers.

“It is a complete waste of time and resources.”

Mr Catt’s lawyer Shamik Dutta, of Bhatt Murphy, called on the Government to “urgently revisit” its definition of domestic extremism and police practices and to remove his details from the database alongside others who are thought to have been added to it unnecessarily, like journalists.

Public figures also affected by the database include former Green Party leader and Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas and the political party’s Peer in the House of Lords Baroness Jenny Jones.

Baroness Jones said the police should be focusing on “serious crimes” rather than “chasing around” peaceful protesters.

She added: “This case has huge implications for my ongoing fight with the Met Police about my inclusion on the extremism database and the whistleblower allegation that some of my files were shredded in order to cover-up illegal spying activities by the police.

“The basic problem is that the police have been given complete discretion to decide who is and is not a political extremist, without any reference to the level of criminality involved.”