Kate Moss will not face drugs charges

Supermodel Kate Moss will not be charged over claims that she took cocaine, prosecutors announced today.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England said there was “insufficient evidence” to proceed.

The development highlighted a glaring loophole in the law on dealing with drug-takers.

A CPS chief said video evidence showed an “absolutely clear indication” that Moss was using controlled drugs and providing them to others.

But they could not prosecute because they did not know if the substance was cocaine, ecstasy or amphetamine.

The move came despite a pledge by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair to tackle middle-class users of the drug.

He had promised the decision on the multi-millionaire supermodel would take into account her effect on “impressionable young people”.

A CPS spokeswoman said: “Following a detailed and thorough review of all the available evidence, the CPS has decided there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against the model Kate Moss over allegations involving drugs.”

She added that the Met had “conducted all reasonable inquiries” into alleged use and supply of drugs by Moss at a recording studio in Chiswick High Road, west London, last September.

Tory MP Anne Widdecombe dismissed the decision as “absolute nonsense” and claimed the authorities had been looking for an excuse not to charge the Croydon-born model.

CPS London’s director of serious casework Rene Barclay said there was an “absolutely clear indication” that Moss was using controlled drugs and providing them to others.

But video footage of Moss’s activities could not prove whether the substance was cocaine, ecstasy or amphetamine, Mr Barclay said.

These drugs are in different categories – Classes A and B – and therefore the prosecution could not proceed because the CPS must prove beyond reasonable doubt which category of substance was being abused.

“The film footage provides an absolutely clear indication that Ms Moss was using controlled drugs and providing them to others,” Mr Barclay said.

“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.”

He added: “Ms Moss declined to provide any explanation when interviewed, and the direct eye witnesses also declined to provide evidence.

“Expert analysis of the footage, however, narrowed the possibilities down to three particular drugs – cocaine, ecstasy or amphetamine.

“But these three substances fall into two different legal categories of controlled drugs.

“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.

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

“Accordingly, as the available evidence fell short of establishing the necessary crucial facts, we decided that there was no realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution could not therefore be started.”

Although ecstasy commonly comes in pill form, it can also be snorted as a powder, and while amphetamine powder is generally swallowed, it can also be taken by nose.

Moss’s offence came to light when photographs of the drug-taking appeared in a newspaper.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: “Despite all reasonable inquiries being pursued by the investigation, which included forensic examination of the scene of the alleged drug taking and investigation into the suspected supply network, we have been unable to provide sufficient proof of the identity of the substance depicted in the media photographs.”

After the pictures emerged, Moss issued a public apology and said she was taking steps to address her “personal issues“.

She then spent a month in the private Meadows rehab clinic in Arizona, and returned to the UK in January after a 142-day self-imposed exile.

Former deputy drug tsar and chairman of the International Drug Policy Consortium Mike Trace said money spent on investigating Moss – reported to total £250,000 – would have been better invested elsewhere in the fight against drugs.

“The attempt to pursue investigations and prosecutions in every instance of potential drug use is doomed to failure because there are so many people using,” he said.

“We shouldn’t seek to expend a lot of resources on every user we come across, however famous.

“These levels of resources would be better used by the police in targeting real problematic drug use, or on education and treatment.”

Tory MP Anne Widdecombe said: “This is absolute nonsense. It’s pathetic.

“This is a question of the police and prosecutors not wanting to charge her.

“They simply haven’t wanted to do it – and you can always find a way out if you look for one.

She added: “The message this sends out is horrendous.”

Shadow home affairs minister Edward Garnier said: “This demonstrates why is it is vital the police obtain all necessary evidence as soon as is practicable.

“Delays can lead to suspicions about the competence of the police and cases which would lead to clear convictions or clear acquittals are left hanging in the air.”

A spokeswoman for Moss refused to comment.