A FINGERPRINT expert was today accused of a conspiracy to match Antoni Imiela's prints to one found on a bag held by a rape victim at the time of her attack.

Clifford Gulbis, from the Hertfordshire police fingerprint bureau, had told Maidstone Crown Court that one of eight marks on a Primark carrier bag matched the left little finger of Mr Imiela, and he was in no doubt about the finding.

But Simon Russell-Flint QC, defending, claimed the photograph of the print from the bag, said to belong to Mr Imiela, had been substituted with an image of the defendant's print taken following his arrest - creating a match.

He also accused Mr Gulbis of taking Mr Imiela's left little finger print on a clear plastic sheet before completing the standard fingerprinting procedure in February last year.

The court heard Mr Gulbis asked for another set of prints from the railway worker as he continued his analysis.

Mr Imiela, 49, of Heathside, Appledore, near Ashford, is accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in October 2002. It is one of 12 charges he denies.

The jury had already heard that the girl's attacker took her bag and put it under her head as a pillow before attacking her in woodland.

Mr Russell-Flint QC said: "Before you took any mark or impression you took hold of the left little finger and rolled it on to a clear piece of plastic."

"No I didn't," Mr Gulbis replied.

Mr Russell-Flint QC continued: "I'm suggesting the photograph was substituted or there was a transplantation of the print to the bag."

Mr Gulbis replied: "I'm not skilled enough to do what you are suggesting I did."

When asked to reply to the defence's conspiracy theory claims by Mark Dennis, for the prosecution, Mr Gulbis said: "I'm shocked and disgusted. I have never been accused of anything like that in the last 15 years. I'm very shocked."

The expert said the Forensic Science Service had confirmed his findings, by finding the same match between Mr Imiela's left little finger print and a mark below the handle of the Primark bag.

David Stubbs, the finger print services manager at Hertfordshire police, then told the court he had checked Mr Gulbis' analysis and come to the same conclusion.

Mr Imiela's prints have been on the national database since 1975 and 1980, the court was told, but no results were found when some of the unidentified marks on the bag were first checked.

Mr Gulbis, when questioned by Mr Dennis, said the particular area in this case, the left little finger tip, would not have appeared on the records - which would only hold standard finger and palm prints.

Mr Imiela denies nine charges of rape, one of attempted rape, indecent assault and kidnap between November 2001 and November 2002.

His first attack is said to have been the rape of a 10-year-old girl on the Stanhope estate in Ashford.

The trial continues.