In this case, the police refused to give him any information after the fact, forcing him to hire a lawyer. The police only apologised after a lawyer got involv

In this case, the police refused to give him any information after the fact, forcing him to hire a lawyer. The police only apologised after a lawyer got involved, not after they realised that they had arrested the wrong man. Additionally only having an IP address to go on, they chose to arrest him (I'm assuming because he's a man) rather than the person whose name was on the account. So, the penalty shouldn't be for a mistake. The penalty should be for trying to cover up the mistake over years, and for profiling him based on zero supporting evidence.