HIGH-PROFILE CONVICTIONS
High-profile convictions
THE Low Copy Number (LCN) DNA technique suspended by police following the acquittal of Omagh bomb suspect Sean Hoey has been used to secure high-profile convictions.
The technique allows scientists to cultivate identifiable DNA samples from a tiny number of human cells - sometimes invisible to the naked eye. In 2005 DNA from the handcuffs used to tie up British backpacker Joanne Lees linked Bradley Murdoch to the murder of her boyfriend Peter Falconio in Western Australia.
In England the previous year Antoni Imiela was convicted of seven rapes, kidnap, indecent assault and an attempted rape of a 10-year-old girl and given seven life sentences.
Government forensic experts described the use of the LCN DNA technique as a "major breakthrough in the police investigation".
Officers have also been able to use LCN DNA to crack crimes they were unable to solve for years. LCN DNA evidence was vital in securing a guilty plea in 2000 from a van driver who had murdered a mother on a canal towpath 23 years earlier.
Ian Lowther (47) was given a life sentence for brutally beating, strangling and sexually assaulting Mary Gregson in 1977.
But the technique has had critics. At the Murdoch trial a key forensic witness said the technique was "dangerous" and "pushing science to the limits".
THE Low Copy Number (LCN) DNA technique suspended by police following the acquittal of Omagh bomb suspect Sean Hoey has been used to secure high-profile convictions.
The technique allows scientists to cultivate identifiable DNA samples from a tiny number of human cells - sometimes invisible to the naked eye. In 2005 DNA from the handcuffs used to tie up British backpacker Joanne Lees linked Bradley Murdoch to the murder of her boyfriend Peter Falconio in Western Australia.
In England the previous year Antoni Imiela was convicted of seven rapes, kidnap, indecent assault and an attempted rape of a 10-year-old girl and given seven life sentences.
Government forensic experts described the use of the LCN DNA technique as a "major breakthrough in the police investigation".
Officers have also been able to use LCN DNA to crack crimes they were unable to solve for years. LCN DNA evidence was vital in securing a guilty plea in 2000 from a van driver who had murdered a mother on a canal towpath 23 years earlier.
Ian Lowther (47) was given a life sentence for brutally beating, strangling and sexually assaulting Mary Gregson in 1977.
But the technique has had critics. At the Murdoch trial a key forensic witness said the technique was "dangerous" and "pushing science to the limits".
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0882
Published Date: 22-Dec-07
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