Notes to Editors
LGC Forensics - cold case track record
LGC has been involved in several high
profile cases of this kind in the past. These include
re-investigations of the murders of Rachel Nickell and Damilola
Taylor, as well as the death of Vikki Thompson. This year LGC
provided crucial forensic evidence in the investigation of the
‘Coastal Path’ and associated murders, assisted in the
re-investigation into the murder of Milly Dowler and provided DNA
evidence in the reinvestigation of the 1966 murder of Yolande
Waddington.Our audio-visual team provided key evidence in the Rhys
Jones case and, working with our Science and Technology Division,
we contributed to the Alexander Litvinenko polonium poisoning
case
Mark Weston
On the 10th
anniversary of Vikki Thompson’s 1995 death, the case was re-opened
by the Thames Valley Police and by the end of 2009, an application
made to court quashing the acquittal and ordering the respondent
(Mark Weston) to be retried for the murder. A large number of items
were examined by LGC Forensics in a staged process between 2006 and
2009.
The defendant’s boots were submitted to LGC
Forensics in early January 2008. Our forensic scientists found a
small area of blood staining on the boot of the defendant and it
was confirmed by DNA profiling that this could have come from the
deceased. There was a one-in-a-billion chance of someone other than
the deceased, having the same profile as the blood on the boot. The
application for a re-trial was made on the basis of the discovery
of this blood stain. Our forensic biologists also carried out a
detailed examination of the appearance of the bloodstains using a
technique called bloodstain pattern analysis, which enabled them to
conclude that the blood was wet when transferred onto the boot. LGC
Forensics has a long standing relationship with Thames Valley
Police and given our reputation in cold case review success, it was
natural for LGC Forensics to be involved.
Coastal Paths – Operation
Ottawa
LGC Forensics had to perform some of its most
challenging and complex forensics analysis to date in its bid to
help Dyfed Powys Police bring John William Cooper to justice.
Cooper was charged in 2009 by detectives investigating the murders
of Helen and Richard Thomas at Scoveston Manor, Pembrokeshire, West
Wales, in December 1985 and the murders of Peter and Gwenda Dixon
on the Pembrokeshire coastal path in 1989.The company has assisted
in many high profile and cold case reviews over recent years with
increasing success and has been working closely with Dyfed Powys
Police since 2006 when the Force re-opened its investigations into
the two double murders as part of Operation Ottawa, which also
included a rape and sexual assault case dating back to 1996.
Joanna Yeates – Operation
Braid
LGC Forensics successfully used a range of
advanced forensic techniques, including LGC’s proprietary DNA
enhancement method, DNASenCE, to link Vincent Tabak to the 2010
murder of Joanna Yeates.
Joanna disappeared after walking to her home
in Bristol on 17 December 2010 and her body was finally found on
Christmas Day in a country lane a few miles from her home. Working
closely with Avon & Somerset Police, LGC Forensics was
instrumental in obtaining a DNA profile from evidence found at the
crime scene and in linking this with a range of supporting forensic
evidence, including from Tabak’s car. The crucial evidence was
provided by the work to refine the DNA procedures in order to
enhance the DNA samples – which were inhibited, possibly by the
unusually high levels of salt at the location of the body, because
of a recent snow fall.
Teamwork played a vital role in this case and
LGC Forensics set up an internal focus group of forensic scientists
who carried out the technical DNA examinations, as well as
interpretation, peer review, and quality review. The group analysed
a number of items taken from Joanna’s flat and submitted by Police
for analysis as well as further evidence from the area where
Joanna’s body was found. The scientists used a combination of
analytical tools including exacting DNA enhancement work and fibre
analysis, and consideration was also given for recovery of hair,
ecology and biological samples.
Milly Dowler – Operation
Ruby
LGC Forensics successfully used digital CCTV
analysis to link Levi Bellfield to the 2002 disappearance and
murder of 13 year-old Milly Dowler.
After Milly disappeared while walking home
from school, CCTV footage of the area was analysed. Working closely
with Surrey Police, LGC Forensics’ Digital and Document Forensics
Team was instrumental in eliminating vehicles from the
investigation. The team also identified the make and model of the
suspect vehicle and compared it against CCTV images of Bellfield’s
vehicle.
The crucial evidence identified by Andy Laws,
Technical Advisor at LGC Forensics, confirmed the time and location
of Milly’s disappearance. CCTV footage from cameras along the
stretch of road where Milly was thought to have disappeared was
analysed. LGC Forensics tracked and helped identify every person
that passed a specific camera during a 50 minute period of time. Mr
Law’s analysis identified where Milly entered the area under camera
surveillance and the last point of visual contact. Further analysis
by LGC Forensics and investigation by Surrey Police confirmed the
time and location of when and where she disappeared. With that
time-specific evidence and the positive identification of
Bellfield’s vehicle, Surrey Police were able to provide evidence to
sustain the prosecution leading to Bellfield’s recent
conviction.
Collette Aram
LGC
Forensics successfully helped solve the first-ever murder case
appeal by the BBC television programme Crimewatch. In June 1984,
Crimewatch appealed to the public for information that might help
Nottinghamshire Police solve the murder of 16-year-old, Colette
Aram. A reconstruction of the investigation that led to the
conviction this month of Colette’s killer was shown on BBC One’s
Crimewatch programme on Wednesday 27 January at 9.00 pm.
In November 2007, LGC Forensics was approached
by the Nottinghamshire Police to assist them with their
re-investigation of this case. In particular, LGC was asked to
extend the analysis of cellular material (blood and semen) found on
a paper tissue thought to be associated with the murder. An earlier
investigation by scientists from another provider had established
that the material analysed did not match the DNA profile of anyone
on the UK National DNA Database (NDNAD).
The first step was to determine whether there
were any ‘near misses’ on the NDNAD which might indicate the
presence of a family member. LGC Forensics used a powerful new
familial searching technique, developed in its research
laboratories, which provided a list of people - identified from the
‘near misses’ on the NDNAD and prioritised according to how similar
their DNA profiles were to the one from the material analysed.
The LGC scientists then used another advanced
DNA technique known as Y-STRs*, to provide more information. Y-STRs
are passed down the male line, from father to son, and they
therefore provide powerful links between males in the same family.
The top 300 names on the prioritised list from the NDNAD were then
also tested for Y-STRs, but there were no matches with the Y-STRs
in the material on the tissue. As more samples were added to the
Database so more individuals were prioritised and tested for
Y-STRs.
Eventually, after samples from approximately
600 males had been analysed, one of them was found to match the
Y-STR profile from the tissue. This immediately threw the spotlight
onto this person’s family and, on 7 April 2009, reference samples
were taken from his father – Paul Hutchinson - and two of his
uncles, Hutchinson’s brothers.
Time was of the essence because clearly only
one of the three men could have been responsible for the material
on the tissue. The samples were delivered by helicopter to LGC’s
Runcorn laboratory in Cheshire where DNA reference samples such as
these are analysed in a dedicated facility. The DNA team rapidly
processed them and interpreted, confirmed and reported the results
to Nottinghamshire Police all within nine hours. In January 2010,
Paul Hutchinson was found guilty of the murder of Colette Aram and
sentenced to a minimum jail term of 25 years.
Fromelles
LGC Forensics
has worked closely with the Australian and British Governments,
Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Ministry of Defence on the
specialised recovery and identification of soldiers who fell at the
Battle of Fromelles in Northern France, on 19 July 1916.
For the first time, unique modifications of
modern day forensic DNA techniques have been used by LGC Forensics
to match DNA from potential relatives with samples extracted from
soldiers’ remains.
From 250 recovered bodies, just over 100 have
been positively identified using the modified DNA analysis in
conjunction with artefacts, anthropological and historical
data.
This is a significant scientific achievement
for LGC Forensics and for all those involved with the project.
Steve Allen, Managing Director of LGC Forensics is delighted with
the results, “We are proud to have played a key part in this
important project. By combining the ingenuity of our forensic
scientists with LGC’s strength in research, we have been able to
develop new methods of analysing DNA to help identify the soldiers
at Fromelles. “
A ceremony to dedicate the new cemetery and to
bury the final soldier was held in Fromelles on 19 July 2010, the
94th anniversary of the battle. The Imperial War Museum in London
has recognised the value of this work and its significance to
Britain’s war history by showcasing it as part of an exhibition at
the museum entitled Remembering Fromelles. The exhibition provided
a comprehensive account of the Battle of Fromelles, showing battle
scenes and memorabilia recovered from Fromelles, and was opened to
the public by HRH The Duke of Kent, President of the CWGC.
Damilola Taylor
After
three trials and almost six years, the killers of ten-year-old
Damilola Taylor were finally brought to justice. Two brothers,
Danny and Ricky Preddie, aged 18 and 19, were found guilty of the
schoolboy’s manslaughter.
In November 2000, as Damilola made his way
home from an after-school club at the local library he was
surrounded by a gang of youths who demanded his jacket. Damilola
refused to hand it over and one of the gang, believed to be Ricky,
stabbed him in the leg with a broken beer bottle. This was known by
the gang as ‘juking’ and they used it as a form of punishment.
Usually it would not cause serious injury, but
in Damilola’s case the shard of glass severed a major artery just
above his knee – and he bled to death in the stairwell of a block
of flats.
The brothers were first cleared of Damilola’s
murder and assault with intent to rob, but a retrial was ordered
because the jury could not agree on the manslaughter charge.
LGC Forensics was asked to help find evidence
that would assist the police in bringing a successful prosecution
for the killing. Re-examination from scratch of the brothers’
clothing revealed blood which could have come from Damilola on the
heel of one of Danny’s trainers and on the cuff of Ricky’s
sweatshirt. One fibre like those of Damilola’s school trouser was
found trapped in the blood on the trainer. Six more fibres, which
matched his school sweatshirt, were found on Danny’s jacket and a
further four on his hooded sweatshirt. One blue-coloured fibre like
those in Danny’s sweatshirt was found on Damilola’s jacket.
Rachel Nickell
Sixteen
years after Rachel Nickell was brutally murdered on Wimbledon
Common, in July 1992, in broad daylight and in front of her young
son, a skilful re-investigation of this tragic case finally led to
the successful conviction of her killer, Robert Napper.
Material recovered from Rachel’s body revealed
a mixture of two DNA profiles – Rachel’s and that of an unknown
male. Further work established that this was more than 1.4 million
times more likely to have come from Robert Napper than from anyone
unrelated to him. A match to Napper was confirmed in 2004.
Footprints in mud on the bridle path close to
where Rachel was murdered had shown a heel print similar to, but
smaller than, the heels on Napper’s shoes. Reconstructions with
similar footwear and ground conditions at the scene produced
smaller prints than the shoes that made them. So the heel mark
found in 1992 could indeed have been made by Napper as he trod the
bridle path on Wimbledon Common.
Instrumental analysis showed that fragments of
red paint recovered from the hair of Rachel’s young son could have
come from Napper’s toolbox. Further tests on traces of metal that
had stuck to the surface of these fragments showed that these were
made of the same steel material used to construct the toolbox.
While there was no new evidence, a new team, a
new approach and new techniques were able to identify three key
strands of compelling evidence to connect Robert Napper to the
scene of Rachel’s killing. When suspicion fell on Napper, he denied
the murder. But thanks to LGC Forensics’ cold case expertise
including biology, specialist DNA, marks and chemical analysis, the
Metropolitan Police were able to exonerate Colin Stagg and end 16
years of uncertainty for Rachel’s family.