DNA GOES UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
DNA goes under the microscope
DNA evidence set to be used in thousands of forthcoming court cases is to be re-examined following the acquittal of Omagh bomb suspect Sean Hoey, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
But the Attorney General's Office has said the review will not currently include looking again at evidence used to secure past convictions.
Police have suspended the testing of "low copy DNA" following Mr Hoey's acquittal.
The Association of Chief Police Officers said forces were already operating an "interim suspension" of the technique.
The CPS - which prosecutes in England and Wales - said it was reviewing a number of cases where Low Copy Number DNA testing was involved.
A similar review is being made here at the request of Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde.
Sir Hugh said: "I have asked for an urgent review of all cases that rely in any way, shape or form on LCN DNA."
The relatively new testing system - which enables the analysis of a small number of cells - was used on the timers for bombs used in Real IRA attacks and allegedly linked them to Omagh accused Sean Hoey.
However, Mr Justice Weir, the judge in the case, decided it was not as yet at a sufficiently scientific level to be considered evidence.
Sir Hugh said the review did not mean LCN DNA evidence was being dismissed. "It is a vital ingredient of cases in the future which will bring very guilty people to justice," he said.
A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office said: "We have no current plans to review past cases. We need to fully take into account the review by the Home Office's forensic regulator along with the judgment from Omagh which we have not yet considered in full."
DNA evidence set to be used in thousands of forthcoming court cases is to be re-examined following the acquittal of Omagh bomb suspect Sean Hoey, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
But the Attorney General's Office has said the review will not currently include looking again at evidence used to secure past convictions.
Police have suspended the testing of "low copy DNA" following Mr Hoey's acquittal.
The Association of Chief Police Officers said forces were already operating an "interim suspension" of the technique.
The CPS - which prosecutes in England and Wales - said it was reviewing a number of cases where Low Copy Number DNA testing was involved.
A similar review is being made here at the request of Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde.
Sir Hugh said: "I have asked for an urgent review of all cases that rely in any way, shape or form on LCN DNA."
The relatively new testing system - which enables the analysis of a small number of cells - was used on the timers for bombs used in Real IRA attacks and allegedly linked them to Omagh accused Sean Hoey.
However, Mr Justice Weir, the judge in the case, decided it was not as yet at a sufficiently scientific level to be considered evidence.
Sir Hugh said the review did not mean LCN DNA evidence was being dismissed. "It is a vital ingredient of cases in the future which will bring very guilty people to justice," he said.
A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office said: "We have no current plans to review past cases. We need to fully take into account the review by the Home Office's forensic regulator along with the judgment from Omagh which we have not yet considered in full."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/1049
Published Date: 22-Dec-07
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