A SUSPECTED heroin dealer has been cleared by a court after the mother of his children refused to give evidence against him.

Mother-of-two Michelle Camm was to provide the only evidence against Mark Anthony Barnes at his trial later this month.

But she told a judge she could not promise to attend - and even if arrested she would not want to go into the witness box.

She also told Burnley Crown Court she could not remember the details of the alleged offence she had put in her original police statement.

Miss Camm, who could have faced jail for refusing to give evidence, was told by a judge that people could not just decide for themselves if they were going to attend court or not.

Barnes, 26, of Oakenhurst Road, Blackburn, had been charged with possessing heroin with intent to supply in March and was due to be tried on November 24.

The judge recorded a verdict of not guilty after the prosecution offered no evidence.

Stuart Duke, prosecuting, said Miss Camm was the only evidence and without her the prosecution did not have a realistic prospect of conviction. He said the solicitor in charge of the case did not wish to pursue Miss Camm for contempt of court and did not want her to go to prison.

Miss Camm had no convictions, had two children and it was she who was said to have attracted police attention to the drugs in the first place.

Judge Raymond Bennett, who had asked Miss Camm to show cause why she did not turn up when the trial was first listed last month, said he did not know if Miss Camm was suffering memory loss or not but he could have sent her to custody until the date of the intended trial to make sure she attended. The judge, who told Miss Camm he hoped she hadn't been "got at by somebody else," said prison would be unduly harsh on Miss Camm and her family.

Judge Bennett went on: "The prosecution does not want me to lock you up and I don't want to lock you up.

"But we want people to understand if they make a complaint, it is very depressing for the police to have to investigate it, put the case together and suddenly find the person who made the complaint has either forgotten or doesn't want to give evidence."