DNA MAY BE FROM A LAB TABLE - EXPERT
DNA may be from a lab table expert
OMAGH BOMB TRIAL
DNA USED to link Sean Hoey to a republican bombing campaign in Northern Ireland may have been transferred via a contaminated examination table, a court heard yesterday.
American forensic expert Professor Dan Krane told Belfast Crown Court that the incriminating material could have been spread to bomb components during processing at a laboratory.
Hoey, 37, has been linked by prosecutors to a number of devices including one which was defused in Lisburn, in 1998. His DNA was allegedly found on that device.
But Mr Krane told the court: "If the item of Mr Hoey's was on a table top, for instance, removed and subsequently these seized items came on to the table top, it would not necessarily require an air transfer but it could result in a transfer."
He was being questioned about the likelihood of the defendant's material accidentally landing on the bomb components. Hoey, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, in Co Armagh, denies 58 charges including the murder of 29 people in 1998 Omagh bombing.
Mr Krane, a witness called by the defence team, specialises in Low Copy Number (LCN) DNA, a relatively new identifying material being used by prosecutors to incriminate Hoey. Hoey's profiles were also found using the technique at Armagh City and Blackwatertown in 1998 and Altmore Ebrest Park, in 2001. Prosecutor Gordon Kerr QC told the court: "Can I suggest to you that somehow there was a source of Mr Hoey's DNA on PN5, that is the timer power unit, for the findings that have been found in this case? "That the only likely explanation apart from a fanciful one is that there was a source of Mr Hoey's DNA in or on PN5 for that to happen."
Mr Krane has been giving evidence for two days and contends that the amount of DNA found makes the results ambiguous. There are only three countries in the world, including the UK, which use LCN DNA as court evidence, according to Prof Krane. The trial is expected to continue for several more weeks.
OMAGH BOMB TRIAL
DNA USED to link Sean Hoey to a republican bombing campaign in Northern Ireland may have been transferred via a contaminated examination table, a court heard yesterday.
American forensic expert Professor Dan Krane told Belfast Crown Court that the incriminating material could have been spread to bomb components during processing at a laboratory.
Hoey, 37, has been linked by prosecutors to a number of devices including one which was defused in Lisburn, in 1998. His DNA was allegedly found on that device.
But Mr Krane told the court: "If the item of Mr Hoey's was on a table top, for instance, removed and subsequently these seized items came on to the table top, it would not necessarily require an air transfer but it could result in a transfer."
He was being questioned about the likelihood of the defendant's material accidentally landing on the bomb components. Hoey, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, in Co Armagh, denies 58 charges including the murder of 29 people in 1998 Omagh bombing.
Mr Krane, a witness called by the defence team, specialises in Low Copy Number (LCN) DNA, a relatively new identifying material being used by prosecutors to incriminate Hoey. Hoey's profiles were also found using the technique at Armagh City and Blackwatertown in 1998 and Altmore Ebrest Park, in 2001. Prosecutor Gordon Kerr QC told the court: "Can I suggest to you that somehow there was a source of Mr Hoey's DNA on PN5, that is the timer power unit, for the findings that have been found in this case? "That the only likely explanation apart from a fanciful one is that there was a source of Mr Hoey's DNA in or on PN5 for that to happen."
Mr Krane has been giving evidence for two days and contends that the amount of DNA found makes the results ambiguous. There are only three countries in the world, including the UK, which use LCN DNA as court evidence, according to Prof Krane. The trial is expected to continue for several more weeks.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/672
Published Date: 16-Nov-06
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