A former pilot who was jailed for shooting a housemate has won almost £1,500 compensation from Sussex Police.

Stafford Freeborn, 59, of The Strand, Goring, launched the legal action when items seized by officers following his arrest six years ago were not returned.

Worthing County Court yesterday awarded him damages.

Among the items taken were a US passport, US and UK driving licences, and scuba diving qualifications and documents.

Police also seized a lap top, telephone and transformer plug, returning them four years later, when they had been replaced.

Mr Freeborn, who first asked for the return of his belongings after leaving prison, had asked for compensation of £2,337 but was told by District Judge Carlton Edwards his case had been damaged by a lack of documentary evidence.

He said: "As soon as I got out of prison I started asking for my stuff.

"It was just me appealing to the police to get my property back. I got the runaround.

"No one would do anything. They passed it like a hot potato from one person to the other."

Mr Freeborn was sentenced to seven years in prison for shooting security guard David Bickle with a 9mm automatic pistol at their lodgings in Princess Terrace, Brighton, in December 1997.

He was found guilty of wounding with intent and using a gun to endanger life and spent three-and-a-half years in Lewes Prison and Verne Prison in Dorset.

At his trial, Mr Freeborn, an American national who served with the United States Air Force Auxiliary, said he had feared for his life after he intervened in a fight between Mr Bickle and their landlord.

Mr Freeborn had been living in Sussex for ten months when the shooting happened.

He told The Argus yesterday that he had bought the gun about 20 years ago after being attacked by two men, one of whom had a knife.

He said: "I have kept it for self-protection ever since. In common with every American I have ever met, I believe I have certain inalienable rights - life being one of them."

Mr Freeborn, who had no criminal convictions before the incident in 1997, said he did not regret the shooting.

He said: "I've been through hell but I'm still in one piece."

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: "Some of his property had been mislaid or lost while it was in custody. Others were returned to him."