A POLICEMAN who has been suspended for 18 months over allegations he fiddled mileage and overtime claims has walked free from court.

Lancashire PC Jason Lobo, who lives in Blackburn, and has also worked in Burnley, Colne and Haslingden, had been due to face a four-week trial.

But the case against the former Commonwealth Games runner was dropped after the prosecution offered no evidence at Liverpool Crown Court.

Recording not guilty verdicts on the 13 charges, Mr Justice Pitchers said that if the prosecution had evidence they should prosecute and if they did not they should not prosecute.

"This is the worse of all worlds for everybody. I do not like the sound of it," he said,

The court heard that it had been alleged that the offences took place between March and September 2003 when 36-year-old PC Lobo was assisting at Dallas Court, the Immigration Service headquarters in Salford.

David Owen, prosecuting, said that the majority of the evidence about the overtime involved a swipe card system at headquarters and it had recently emerged that the system operated at two levels.

"The installer was called out to investigate the machine and found basically the system was not reliable. We cannot put that evidence before a jury," said Mr Owen.

Referring to the mileage claims, he said it had been decided they would be better dealt with at police disciplinary proceedings. "Some of these mileage claims had also been on the computer swipe log," he added.

It had emerged two or three officers might have used the same swipe card and PC Lobo had said he did not always used his own card, said Mr Owen.

Robert Platts, defending, said, "It is only because the defence pushed so hard for all this information that this case collapsed."

PCLobo had pleaded not guilty to 12 charges of false accounting and one of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

He has represented his country in both the 800 and 1500 metres and was selected for the Sydney Olympics before being forced to pull out through injury.