Granada, Spain - A Spanish court has ordered a judge to pay 100,000 euros (157,000 dollars) to a man whom she acquitted of criminal charges but forgot to release, keeping him in custody for 15 months, judicial sources said Wednesday.

The judge was also barred from exercising her profession for a year.

The 32-year-old man had been found innocent of stealing a handbag by the judge based at a court in Motril, southern Spain.

The judge's absent-mindedness harmed the health of the detainee, who had suffered from a drug addiction and whose mental problems increased in prison, the Andalusian Supreme Court said in its ruling.(dpa)