The police minister has been ordered to pay damages to a company director who was kept in a Lyttleton police cell despite the High Court in Pretoria releasing him on bail, the Citizen reported on Tuesday.

he minister accepted full liability for the director's unlawful detention after he was arrested without a warrant on a charge of rape in June 2011, according to the newspaper.

The director was accused of rape by a family member, but the charges were later withdrawn.

The director claimed R740,000 in damages but the amount the police minister will pay would be determined at a later stage.

The director claimed he was humiliated, suffered a loss of dignity, his right to privacy was infringed, and he and his family had been traumatised to such an extent that they had to undergo counselling.

According to the man's attorneys, police ignored his wife's pleas to let him use chronic medication, laughed at her, and chased her out the station.