JOHN-PAUL FORD ROJAS

A make-up artist who put together a series of sophisticated disguises for the Securitas robbers is living in fear after becoming the star witness for the prosecution.

Michelle Hogg, who is now in the witness protection scheme, told the Old Bailey that she was "petrified" after identifying members of the gang in court.

Miss Hogg, from Plumstead, London, began the case in the dock alongside the men accused of planning and carrying out the robbery.

But halfway through the trial the policeman's daughter was cleared of all charges and in return agreed to name names on behalf of the Crown.

She brought laughter to the courtroom as she explained how she used her bra straps and baby-bottle teats to disguise one of the robbers.

He complained to her that his false beard made him look "like a black Father Christmas", she told jurors.

Miss Hogg, who was working as a hairdresser, said she met and disguised the man called Kane, thought to be Keyinde Patterson.

He is suspected of being the fake policeman who entered the Securitas depot with manager Colin Dixon.

She said she also created prosthetic masks for robbers Lea Rusha and Stuart Royle, and another man who cannot be named.

In addition, Miss Hogg said she met the robbers Roger Coutts and Jetmir Bucpapa.

She claimed she did not know about the robbery until her mother, who knew she had been working in Maidstone, called her and told her to turn on the television.

Miss Hogg, now 33, has maintained that while she applied prosthetic disguises - normally used in the world of theatre and cinema - to the robbers, she did not know what they were for.

Yet prosecutors made clear that, while she had been cleared of any role in the conspiracy, they did not believe her story.

However, Miss Hogg also told jurors how scared she was about the consequences of what she had done.

"Even by me standing here it doesn't mean I'm still not petrified," she said.

Detective Chief Inspector Mick Judge, the senior investigating officer in the case, said her evidence against the robbers tied together other strands, which included DNA analysis and mobile phone call records.

"What she was able to do was actually name those that she made up," he said.