THE Crown Prosecution Service last night defended its role in the unsafe conviction of a decorator accused of the theft of £57,000-worth of jewellery.

Anthony Cormack, 38, of Deona Court, Darlington, had his theft conviction quashed by appeal court judges in London on Wednesday.

The judges heard that the jury in his case at Teesside Crown Court had not been told about separate fraud allegations being faced by Michael and Susan Melton, at whose home in Staindrop, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, the theft was alleged to have been carried out.

The cost of Mr Cormack's trial and subsequent appeal to the Crown is thought to run into tens of thousands of pounds.

Last night, a spokesman for County Durham CPS, said: "At that time of the original trial, no charges had been laid against Mr and Mrs Melton so from the documents we had we would not have been aware of their involvement in a separate police investigation."

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police, which carried out the separate fraud inquiry, said a file on the Meltons had been passed on to the CPS. He said: "The CPS is the only common factor here."

Mr and Mrs Melton are due to appear at Southwark Crown Court in September in connection with allegations that they conspired to defraud the Prudential Assurance Company.