No cocaine charges for Kate Moss

LONDON - British supermodel Kate Moss will not face charges over allegations she took illegal drugs at a London recording studio last year, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said yesterday.

The 32-year-old was questioned by police but not arrested after the Daily Mirror tabloid published photographs from film taken last September of her apparently snorting large quantities of cocaine.

The CPS said it had concluded there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of convicting the model.

"The film footage provides an absolutely clear indication that Ms Moss was using controlled drugs and providing them to others," said Rene Barclay, the CPS's London director of serious casework.

"However, in the absence of any forensic evidence, or direct eye witness evidence about the substance in question, its precise nature could not be established.

"Ms Moss declined to provide any explanation when interviewed, and the direct eye witnesses also declined to provide evidence."

Analysis of the film had narrowed down the substance to one of three drugs - cocaine, ecstasy or amphetamine - but Barclay said this was not enough for a successful prosecution as they fall into different legal categories of control.

"Proving that it was a substance belonging either to one or other of two different legal categories is not sufficient," he said.

"To obtain a conviction, case law establishes that the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt the legal category to which the substance being used belonged."

Moss flew abroad shortly after publication of the photos and spent time in the United States, where she attended a drug rehabilitation clinic, and in France, before returning to Britain.

The scandal prompted British fashion house Burberry and Swedish-based Hennes and Mauritz to cut ties with Moss, one of the most famous faces in fashion.

France's Chanel also said they would not renew a contract with Moss when it expired.

Moss' career appears to have recovered swiftly since, with a new contract for camera maker Nikon and front page appearances for French fashion bible Vogue and US celebrity magazine Vanity Fair.

She has never confessed to taking illegal drugs, although she issued a statement last year apologizing to friends and family for behaviour which "reflected badly" on them.

Moss is a favourite subject for British newspapers, which have closely followed her on-off relationship with troubled British rocker Pete Doherty.

Doherty pleaded guilty earlier this year to possessing heroin and cocaine.

- REUTERS