Charges dropped against paparazzi in Kidman case

AUSTRALIAN prosecutors dropped charges yesterday against a celebrity photographer accused of planting a listening device outside the mansion of actress Nicole Kidman.

Jamie Fawcett, 46, was charged in January 2005 with possessing and using a listening device after he was allegedly spotted planting the bug near a sidewalk outside Kidman’s lavish Sydney home.

But the New South Wales state prosecutor’s office withdrew all charges against Fawcett in Sydney’s Local Court yesterday. The reasons for the decision were not immediately clear.