A PR specialist testified today that a lawyer of Jackson told her that his teenage accuser's mother would be discredited and made to look like a "crack whore."

Ann Marie Kite, known professionally as Ann Gabriel, told the court that she became suspicious on February 13 2003 when she was told that the family of the accuser had left Jackson's Neverland ranch in the middle of the night and returned within twelve hours.

She was told by Jackson's associate Marc Schaffel that "The situation had been contained," which she said made her feel "very uncomfortable". When she asked David LeGrand, one of Jackson's attorneys, what had happened, she lost her job but was assured that the accuser's mother would not pose a problem.

"He said that they no longer had to worry about (the mother) because they had her on tape and they were going to make her look like a crack whore," she testified.

The prosecution asked Kite to confirm claims that the family were forced to help the Jackson camp improve his image in February 2003 following the broadcast of Martin Bashir's documentary, Living With Michael Jackson.