DNA samples 'need re-examining'
Hundreds of samples may have to be re-tested
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Wednesday, 21, Feb 2007 03:35
Opposition parties have heaped criticism on the Home Office after it was revealed that hundreds of DNA samples used in criminal cases may need to be re-examined.
In a joint statement, the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) confirmed that a "small percentage" of DNA samples may need to be looked at again.
The review is necessary as a result of "differences in the way forensic suppliers were using new techniques to analyse forensic material between 2000 and 2005", the statement said.
Conservative shadow home secretary David Davis accused the Home Office of "putting the public at risk" while his Liberal Democrats counterpart said the revelation was "extraordinary".
Police were informed about the possibility that some evidence had been overlooked some time ago, but the initial investigation was kept confidential for "operational reasons".
It is understood that the tests being looked at again are those conducted by the Forensic Science Service (FSS) which gave neither a positive or negative result.
Mr Davis warned that the procedure's failure could mean that a guilty person was allowed to go free, but the Home Office has sought to reassure the public that the problem would not have led to any wrong convictions.
"As soon as ministers became aware of this issue they asked Acpo to undertake an operational review to secure the nature and extent of it and to take remedial action," a Home Office spokesperson said.
"Acpo is very close to completing that work and has found no evidence that we should be concerned about standards being used today."
The spokesperson added that the department would not speculate as to how many cases were involved.
Mr Davis said the failure "demonstrates an extremely serious failure from the Home Office".
"It is possible that miscarriages of justice could have occurred in thousands of cases. DNA is so central to criminal justice that this is a central failure of the criminal justice system," he added.
"It is also possible that dangerous offenders who were guilty could have got off, meaning they are on the streets and a risk to the public. This represents a failure of the Home Office to discharge its primary duty of protecting the public. "
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said: "Given that the government is asking us to rely so heavily on DNA technology to detect crime, it is extraordinary that the necessary methods are not being deployed to use it to its greatest potential."