A court in Los Angeles has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the policeman who arrested the singer George Michael for lewd behaviour in a park.

The policeman, Marcelo Rodriguez, complained that the singer had caused him emotional and mental distress with a song mocking his arrest.

An accompanying video showed men dancing in leather uniforms.

It also showed policemen kissing.

The judge ruled that public officials could not recover damages in such cases. Michael was fined eight-hundred dollars after pleading no contest to the charges, but also claimed he had been set up by what appeared to be a good-looking homosexual man.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service