Norfolk Police arrested the wrong man on suspicion of leaking the addresses of asylum seekers which they said had contributed to the recent disorder in Thetford. James Jobson was taken into custody and charged — only for the case against him to be dropped. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has now apologised for a mistake which delayed his release from prison and left his family distraught.

The 62-year-old works for Serco, a company which holds the contract for housing asylum seekers in the east of England. He is a cleaner and lives in Costessey, on the edge of Norwich.

At Ipswich Magistrates' Court last week, prosecutors outlined the case against him.

The court was told Jobson had personally visited and cleaned at least three of the Thetford properties from where police removed migrants during violent scenes earlier this month.

Jobson was accused of being the individual behind a Facebook page called The HMO Inspector, on which footage filmed inside houses in multiple occupation (HMO) had been published.

According to the charge, between 3 and 14 August, while acting as a public officer, Jobson "wilfully and without reasonable excuse or justification" committed misconduct in a way which "amounted to an abuse of the public's trust in the office".

The CPS acknowledged a mistake which led to a delay in Jobson being released from prison, where he was being held on remand.

A spokesman said: "We would like to apologise to James Jobson and his family. We were alerted on Saturday of an inaccuracy in the notice sent to the prison and worked quickly to rectify this so he can be released without further delay."

When asked about the evidence which led to him being charged, the CPS referred our inquiries to the police.

The HMO Inspector Facebook account was still being updated after his arrest, but Norfolk Police deny this was the sole reason the charges were dropped, and that it was aware of this prior to being contacted by the media.

"As is often the case in complex investigations, inquiries continued after charge," the force said.

In response to questions, the police added: "Following further examination of the material and additional inquiries with Serco regarding staff access to relevant properties, officers identified material that undermined the case. This new information was disclosed to the CPS, resulting in the decision to discontinue proceedings."

They have ruled out police misconduct in relation to their investigation.

Serco said it had nothing further to add other than it was "co-operating fully" with the police.

When the BBC visited his home again on Monday morning, Jobson was too distraught to speak to the media.

A relative said the family had not been informed about his release from Norwich Prison and that he had to get a taxi home.

It is unclear how long he had been detained, but the timeline suggests it might have been nine days.

The family member added that he took pictures of the properties he cleaned "as part of his job".

He added that when he was questioned by police, Jobson had replied "no comment" on the advice of his legal representative.

The family did not wish to speak further except to say that the experience had left them feeling traumatised.

In response, the police said it recognised "the significant impact that criminal investigations and court proceedings can have on individuals" but, based on the evidence available at the time, "officers had grounds to make an arrest and progress the investigation, and the CPS subsequently authorised charges".

They also said Jobson's "no comment" in his police interview meant that "he offered no new lines of inquiry... to negate the allegations" before he was charged.

Jobson's family are likely to be considering their next move.

According to retired criminal solicitor Simon Nicholls: "He may have some recourse to some compensation for the period between the time when the allegations against him were withdrawn and the period when he was released.

"Given it is 24 hours, that could be a substantial amount."

Norfolk Police said it was continuing to investigate who was behind The HMO Inspector Facebook account.

It was still posting updates and showing videos purporting to be of Serco-operated accommodation.

On Sunday, they wrote: "It's so good to hear that James Jobson has been released. I don't know the story behind his arrest and I have never met the man. I can state in all honesty the houses that had protests outside had nothing to do with this page."

Do you have a story suggestion for Norfolk? Contact us below.

Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.