Setback for LCN DNA
Omagh Bombing Trial Outcome - LCN DNA is not Reliable as Evidence
When Sean Hoey was freed in Belfast, Northern Ireland after being accused of 29 counts of murder for the Omagh Bombing, the troubles for LCN DNA were just beginning.
Sean Hoey was cleared on 20 December 2007 of 56 charges including the murders of 29 people in the Omagh bomb attack in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in a case that was essentially built on forensic evidence - in particular DNA.
According to all reports, highly unreliable DNA evidence, chaotic police record-keeping and allegations that police had falsified evidence, undermined the prosecution case against Sean Hoey in the Omagh Bombing trial almost from day one.
The prosecution's decision to rely heavily on the use of Low Copy Number (LCN) DNA evidence caused huge controversy.
Who is Sean Hoey?
Sean Hoey, 38, an unemployed electrician, was charged in 2005 in what became Britain's biggest mass murder trial. He denied all 56 charges in relation to the 1998 Omagh car bombing, which came months after a peace deal to end 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland.
Hoey was also cleared of a series of other charges linked to bombings across British-run Northern Ireland before the Omagh attack.
History of the Omagh Bombing
The car bomb detonated at 3.10pm in a shopping street in the center of Omagh, County Tyronne in Northern Ireland in 1998. 29 people were killed, one of them a mother of unborn twins, with another 220 injured. The Real IRA, the dissident republican group, claimed responsibility for the atrocity.
Forensic Evidence in the Omagh Trial
In his ruling the judge was highly critical of the slapdash way the police collected the DNA samples and other forensic evidence in the first place.
At the heart of the case were the bomb timers used in the attacks. Forensic scientists had examined them for both fibers and Low Copy Number (LCN) DNA evidence.
The DNA findings, already undermined by evidence of being deliberately planted or at minimum negligently contaminated, were further discredited when crown expert John Whitaker conceded that he had found only Low Copy Number (LCN) DNA evidence.
Forensic Science Service (FFS) and LCN DNA
The Forensic Science Service (FSS), told Mr Justice Weir they had Hoey’s DNA on items relating not just to the Omagh bombing but several other bomb scenes as well using a technique they had developed themselves, called Low Copy Number (LCN) DNA.
The FSS, a government-owned for-profit company that is Britain's largest forensics provider, began routinely using LCN testing in casework in 1999. Since then they have used the technique about 21,000 times.
Despite that, there have been constant doubts within the scientific community about the merits of LCN testing, and Sean Hoey's defense team decided to attack the method and the science behind it.
Expert Testimony in the Omagh Bombing Case in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Two forensic experts Professor Dan Krane and Professor Allan Jamison testified that LCN could give a distorted result and was not scientifically reliable. Moreover the miniscule amount of material used, makes LCN DNA easily susceptible to taint and contamination.
Giving evidence for the defense, Professor Jamieson said that in his opinion, the less DNA being tested, the less chance there was of a reliable result.
Results of the Omagh Bombing Case
Prosecution and defense lawyers wrangled over whether DNA evidence was reliable enough for a conviction during the 56-day trial without a jury.
In conclusion, the Judge, Mr Justice Weir said he was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that prosecution submissions showed that all the explosive devices were made by one person, and Hoey was freed.
Future of LCN DNA
An urgent review into thousands of criminal cases was launched by the Crown Prosecution Service in the United Kingdom after the credibility of LCN DNA testing was called into question by the judge in the collapsed Omagh bombing trial.
The verdict from the Omagh Bombing trial will throw up considerable questions over the merits of LCN DNA testing and will certainly bolster the arguments of those who have always held reservations about the technique.
Sources:
Forensic Framework Unravels - The Blanket - a Journal of Protest and Dissent
Before the Omagh Bomb - 15 August 1998
