A Scottish press agency reporter has been cleared of impersonating a court official to secure an interview with an assault victim.

Lauren Crooks, 25, was charged by Lothian and Borders Police - despite handing over a business card during the interview which clearly stated her name and position with Deadline Press & Picture Agency. On Friday she was cleared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court following a year of legal wrangling involving eight separate court appearances.

Crooks, who was a court reporter with the agency and has since been promoted to its news editor, said she was deighted to have finally been cleared.

“But it’s not just a personal victory – this is an important ruling for the media as a whole. Had I been convicted it would have been an extremely dangerous precedent.

“I couldn’t have been any clearer in introducing myself as a reporter. During the interview I also requested photographs to be set up for a national Sunday newspaper and I handed over my own business card.

“Yet, when the man I was interviewing and his family claimed they didn’t fully understand who I was, I found myself arrested, charged and summoned to appear in the court where I worked every day.

“I still find it hard to get my head round the fact this could happen to a bona fide reporter doing a perfectly routine job in a transparent way in modern Scotland. It is quite unbelievable.”

Her first of eight court appearances was on August 30, 2007, and it came to trial on Friday when Sheriff McIntyre ruled there was no case to answer.

Scott Douglas, founder of the Edinburgh based media agency welcomed the court decision and said the case raised serious questions about the role of the police in particular.

He added: “Lauren is a first class reporter, both honest and committed. Frankly, it was outrageous she should have found herself in this situation at all.

“She has been through a year of hell, worrying about the possible impact the court proceedings could have on both her personal and work life, all for doing her job in a totally honest and transparent way.

“I have spent 20 years in the Scottish media and everyone I have spoken to has expressed nothing but disbelief that this should have happened at all. I dread to think how much this ludicrous case has cost the taxpayer in wasted police, procurator fiscal and court time.

“Even more sinister is why a police force - already under fire for its deliberate erosion of media relations - went to such lengths to pursue a reporter and an agency with an unblemished reputation on a case which didn’t stand up to even the most basic scrutiny.”