A DECORATOR convicted of stealing £57,000 worth of jewellery has had his conviction quashed because the alleged victims were under investigation for fraud at the time of his trial.

Anthony James Cormack, 38, of Deona Court, Darlington, was found guilty by a jury at Teesside Crown Court of theft on February 13 last year and sentenced to 200 hours' community punishment.

But judges at the Court of Appeal, in London, yesterday ruled the conviction unsafe because the trial's outcome could have been different if the fraud investigation had been known to the jury.

Teesside Crown Court had heard that the father-of-two was working at the home of Susan and Michael Melton, in Staindrop, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, in July 2002 when the alleged theft took place.

The jewellery included an 18-carat gold, diamond and mother-of-pearl Rolex watch, said to be one of only two in the world. The other belonged to Victoria Beckham.

The prosecution said Mr Cormack, who had no previous convictions and maintained his innocence, put the jewellery in a bag of plaster after it fell from a bedroom vanity unit where it had been hidden.

He was told by the judge he had narrowly avoided jail.

It later emerged that the Meltons, who moved from Berkshire to run the Country Tea Shop, in Front Street, Staindrop, have each been charged with conspiring to defraud the Prudential Assurance Company and will stand trial at London's Southwark Crown Court, in September.

Mrs Melton, 45, is a former director of Prudential Assurance. At the time the couple were charged, Mr Melton, 59, jointly ran the Bay Horse pub in Hurworth, near Darlington, with his son.

Police who investigated the jewellery allegations said they were unaware of the inquiry involving the Meltons, which was conducted by Metropolitan Police.

At yesterday's Appeal Court hearing, Mr Justice Hunt said it was the defence's case that there was no forensic evidence to link the jewellery to Mr Cormack, and he had only initially admitted it because he was "fiddling on the dole and was frightened of being found out".

Mr Justice Hunt said that after Mr Cormack's conviction, the fraud investigation facing the Meltons was revealed.

He said: "They failed to tell the prosecution, and, it is claimed, if they had done so, it would have affected the credibility of these witnesses."

Speaking after the case, Brian Russell, counsel for Mr Cormack, said that as a result of the case, his client's wife had left him.