By Charlotte Webster-
Ten thousand criminal cases in England and Wales are being reviewed, following news that data at a forensic laboratory in Manchester may have been tampered with, causing the biggest recall of samples in British criminal justice history.
A minister said the data manipulation was discovered in 2017 at a lab run by Randox Testing Nick Hurd issued a statement acknowledging “the potential impact on public confidence” in forensic science that the revelations will have. Police said two cases involving road deaths had been referred to the court of appeal and about 50 prosecutions of drug-driving had been. discontinued.
Scrutiny
Those involved in the scientific work in question had previously worked at a different firm, Trimega was criticised for its work in court judgments in 2012- seven years ago.
In 2012, an open judgment criticised Trimega for providing a court with false information that the mother of a three- and four-year-old had been using increasing amounts of cocaine and opiates, as as she fought to keep her children.
The court was told that because of its error, Trimega withheld an apology to the mother to avoid the exploitation of rivals for its commercial advantage. The judgement blasted the credibility of Trimega. It read:
“In this respect, Trimega’s attitude does no credit to an organisation entrusted with the responsibility of providing independent expert advice to the court on matters that will affect the lives of children and families,”
the judgment states. Mr Justice Jonathan Baker told the high court the children would have gone into care had the sample not been checked by another lab. He warned at the time:
“Erroneous expert evidence may lead to the gravest miscarriage of justice imaginable – the wrongful removal of children from their families.”
In 2013, Trimega was criticised for incorrectly reporting that a mother’s blood -alcohol test was consistent with “heavy drinking”. That information was badly off the mark, the alcohol test was consistent with the lack of drinking. The company only identified the mistake once it learned that the result had led the local authority to withdraw its support for a plan to return the mother’s one-year-old child to her care.
Concerns about Randox emerged in January this year, leading to a criminal investigation concluding in Tuesday’s announcements. The investigation was then expanded to focus on child protection and family court cases. The negligent parties were a mixture of Randox and Trimega employees. Two people have been arrested and five have been interviewed under caution
Police said two people had been arrested and five more had been interviewed under caution.
Julia Mulligan, who leads on transparency and integrity for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, which oversees police forces in England and Wales, said:
“Understandably, confidence in the criminal justice system will be rocked, but I am confident that chief constables and the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] in particular are doing everything they can to deal with this unforeseeable challenge, affecting both live and historic cases.”
Seventy -five percent of the cases being reviewed were traffic offences, like drug-driving. Some experts fear the review may take a few years to complete. Other offences likely to have been affected under the huge blunder, include violent crime, sexual offences and unexplained deaths, with no impact found so far in the most serious cases.
Forensic services regulator, Gillian Tuly said:
“In terms of the number of cases, it is certainly the biggest thing I am aware of in this country.”
She made it clear that the embarrassing blunder was an isolated case among forensic providers. Extra checks on other forensic providers had not highlighted concerns . The main forensic provider-the Forensic Science Service,- was abolished in late 2010, the goal being to create more competition in the forensic industry.
Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow policing minister said:
“It is clear the chaotic reorganization of the forensics system, including the closure of the Forensic Science Service, has left providers who were simply not fit for purpose to fill the gap. This has had devastating consequences.”
She attacked Nock Hurd for announcing the news without providing full facts. She said he did not appear to know there had been issues about one of Randox’s predecessor companies from previous years.
“It is deeply concerning that the Minister would issue a statement that didn’t appear to include the full facts. Those affected and the public at large have a right to know the truth about this scandal.”