Arlene case lip-reader is dropped for 'misleading' court over CV

A LIP-reading expert whose skills helped police track Scots wife-killer Nat Fraser has been dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service in England after she was accused of misleading a court about her qualifications.

Profoundly deaf Jessica Rees has been involved in more than 700 criminal trials using forensic lip-reading techniques to analyse silent CCTV or police tapes.

She has worked both for defence and prosecution lawyers, but the CPS confirmed yesterday it will no longer be using her services.

Following a review of her role as an expert witness in prosecution cases, a CPS spokeswoman said: "The CPS has decided not to rely on Jessica Rees as a prosecution witness in current or future cases.

"As a precaution, the Crown Prosecution Service is contacting defendants or their representatives in those cases where Jessica Rees gave evidence for the prosecution and which resulted in a conviction. They will be provided with a disclosure package to enable them to advise their clients."

Ms Rees was brought in by Grampian Police after they had exhausted almost every possibility in the Arlene Fraser case, the Elgin housewife who disappeared without trace in April 1998.

Ms Rees provided a major breakthrough when she reviewed routine security camera tapes made at Porterfield Prison, Inverness, which she said showed Mr Fraser talking about the murder.

Miss Rees would have been called to give evidence at the trial had Hector Dick, a co-accused, not become a Crown witness and told a similar story. Charges were dropped against Dick, and Fraser was jailed for murder in January 2003.

Despite her apparent successes, Ms Rees' credibility was challenged in a case at Snaresbrook Crown Court last year.

Defence barrister Edward Henry accused her of misleading the court in a CV which suggested she had a degree from Balliol College, Oxford.

Ms Rees readily accepted she had not completed her degree and said her CV was meant to show only that she had finished the first two years of the course. It sparked a police investigation and a review by the CPS.

The CPS spokeswoman said: "Jessica Rees is a lip-reading expert who has been used by both the prosecution and the defence since 1998.

"Prior to relying on an expert witness, the prosecution satisfy themselves of the competence and credibility of the expert.

"Jessica Rees has been tested by Professor Summerfield of the Medical Research Council's Institute of Hearing.

"He expressed the view that she is an exceptionally good lip-reader.

"However, following the evidence Jessica Rees gave in the case of R v Becon relating to her qualifications she was the subject of a police investigation.

"A file was submitted to the CPS which decided that there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that no criminal charges should be brought against her."

Ms Rees told BBC Newsnight last night her evidence was highly reliable, and her work was praised by retired Flying Squad detective Jim Crinigan, who worked with her on a prosecution for robbery at Heathrow Airport.

Ms Rees said: "I have to be very confident indeed to include any words in the transcript. And this only happens after an exhaustive process, which involves looking at sections of tape 40, 50, 60 times."