Latest news with #AngelaGallop
The Guardian
04-07-2025
- The Guardian
‘Graveyard spiral': why Louisa Dunne cold case breakthrough may be a rare win
Fewer cold cases such as the 1967 murder of the Bristol woman Louisa Dunne are likely to be solved because of police budget cuts, 'haphazard' investigations and loss of scientific knowhow, experts have warned. While praising Avon and Somerset police for catching 92-year-old Ryland Headley 58 years after he raped and murdered Dunne, specialists in scientific evidence, law and criminology expressed concern at challenges ranging from the storage of evidence to the skill of DNA analysts and the modest size of cold case teams. Prof Angela Gallop, a forensic scientist nicknamed the Queen of crime-solving, said: 'It's great when they solve these crimes, it always means something to the families of the victims. 'But police budgets are so tight, they have enough problems funding current investigations, never mind these old ones. There are lots of cases waiting to be unlocked.' Days before the Headley trial began, a commission on forensic science chaired by Gallop concluded that the sector in England and Wales was in a 'graveyard spiral' leading to an increase in unsolved crimes. The commission said the two countries had lost their national forensic science service and the commercial market that followed had 'collapsed'. Police forces were taking more testing in-house or moving away from 'traditional' forensic science, because they perceived commercial provision to be too slow and too expensive, the commission concluded. Gallop said: 'At the moment, forensic science isn't working for anyone. There aren't the scientists to help the police – a lot of them have been deskilled or become disenchanted because it's all about quick cheap tests, not scientific investigation. 'There aren't enough of us with the right experience. We're in a sorry state.' Carole McCartney, professor of law and criminal justice at the University of Leicester, said cold case investigations could be 'haphazard'. She said: 'There are 43 police forces [in England and Wales], 43 different ways of doing things and they're all on a budget.' A big concern is that the forces do not have the budget or expertise to run complex storage facilities. McCartney said: 'I've spoken to forensic scientists who say they won't touch a case if the evidence has come out of a police store because they can't attest to its integrity.' She said, ironically, it may be easier to solve very old crimes than new ones because some evidence from historical cases is still stored centrally. Avon and Somerset police has been feted for the cold case inquiry, codename Operation Beatle, that led to Headley being jailed for life, but some of the serious challenges faced by the police emerged, not least the small size of the cold case team that caught Headley. There were only six part-timers – two officers and four retired detectives now working as civilian investigators. They have about 30 unsolved murders on their books, and also look at rapes, missing people and unidentified bodies. McCartney said when she visited a different force she was told they had an 'amazing' system. 'It turned out to be four retired cops in a bunker sifting through boxes and Googling the cases.' Glyn Maddocks KC, a solicitor based in south Wales, said: 'Forces [in England and Wales] store material differently: they're all deciding slightly differently what to test and what not to test, what to take swabs off and what not to. It's quite chaotic.' Maddocks said forces carrying out their own scientific investigations could lead to miscarriages of justice. 'People have this idea that forensic science is independent.' The Headley case has made headlines around the world, a reminder of the fascination cold cases hold. Ed Talfan, the creative director of the Welsh production company Severn Screen, which has made two celebrated cold case shows based on real-life crime, Steeltown Murders and The Pembrokeshire Murders, said such investigations made powerful drama. Talfan said: 'Cold cases hold a particular power, because victims' families not only have to endure the pain and shock that comes with losing a loved one, but then navigate the terrible limbo that follows. 'When a breakthrough does finally come, sometimes after decades, I think audiences respond to the families' feeling of release – not from the pain of losing their loved one, but from the pain of not knowing. I don't think families ever get closure. But knowing the facts, knowing who was responsible, gives them something that matters deeply.' Prof David Wilson, emeritus professor of criminology and presenter of the Channel 4 cold case series In the Footsteps of Killers, said: 'We really like an ending. We've always been attracted to solving the mystery.' But he said there were no happy endings. 'We might get a denouement in terms of what happened, but that doesn't necessarily bring family and friends any form of closure. The ripples continue.' Women's campaign groups are keen that Dunne, who was killed aged 75, is not forgotten and have called for the investigations into Headley to continue. The campaign group Women Against Rape said: 'We're glad the appalling crimes against Louisa Dunne are finally recognised. 'But how many other women has this man raped and murdered? Solving cold cases doesn't atone for continuing refusal by the authorities to treat violence against women and girls as a serious crime.'
The Guardian
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Miscarriages of justice more likely due to forensic science crisis, report finds
The forensic science sector is in a 'graveyard spiral', according to a parliamentary inquiry that has warned of biased criminal investigations, a rising risk of wrongful convictions, and murder and sexual offence cases collapsing due to missing evidence. The three-year inquiry set up by the all-party parliamentary group on miscarriages of justice has outlined how a series of 'reckless policy decisions' over the past decade have brought forensic science to a point of crisis. A near-monopoly in the commercial sector means there is now a dangerous single point of failure and the increasing reliance on in-house police laboratories risks compromising scientific impartiality, the inquiry found. 'Forensic science in England and Wales as currently configured isn't working for anyone – not for the police, not for the lawyers or for the courts, not for the scientists themselves, and not for the general public who get caught up in the criminal justice system,' said Prof Angela Gallop, co-chair of the Westminster Commission on Forensic Science. 'Like a plane hurtling downwards in what has become known as a 'graveyard spiral', with the pilot in desperation making increasingly erratic decisions, it can only be a short time now before it impacts the ground.' Since the closure of the Forensic Science Service in 2012, work has been divided between commercial providers and, increasingly, in-house police laboratories. However, the inquiry said there were now real concerns about bias due to the expanding types of investigations the police conduct, paired with inadequate legal aid funding for defence experts. The report recommends an immediate halt to the expansion of police in-house forensic provision and, in the long term, removing forensic science provision from police oversight. 'The increased risk of miscarriages of justice is self-evident and the potential for investigative failures leading to further injustices is continuing to grow,' said Gallop. The report also highlights the imminent collapse of the forensics market, which is heading toward a 'last man standing' monopoly after the UK's largest forensics provider, Eurofins, acquired the second largest provider, Cellmark, which was on the brink of insolvency last year. Eurofins now delivers more than 85% of external science provision, the report estimates, a proportion that could rise further, creating the risk of a single point of failure. Another concern raised is the police handling of crucial evidence used to prosecute the most serious crimes, with a growing number of cases dropped due to 'disappearing material' including DNA samples, CCTV footage, weapons, drugs and mobile phone data. Missing evidence was recorded as the reason for 30,552 prosecutions being dropped between October 2020 and September 2024, the report reveals. This included 70 homicides and 554 sexual offences, and represented just over 2% of all prosecutions nationally. The Metropolitan police had 4.6% of cases dropped because of missing evidence. Prof Carole McCartney, a criminologist at the University of Leicester, who helped compile the figures, said: 'The most obvious cause for alarm is that each of these cases is potentially a victim who will never see their perpetrator in court or see their case brought to justice. 'And if we're not retaining evidence, people who are victims of miscarriages of justice can't get out of prison and cold cases will stay unsolved if you lose the evidence. It's a fundamental part of the criminal justice process.' The inquiry adds to continuing criticism of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), after the cases of Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail for a rape he did not commit, and Peter Sullivan, whose murder conviction was overturned last month after 38 years. The report describes a culture of 'complacency in respect of a lack of scientific knowledge and understanding' among CCRC staff and recommends the recruitment of permanent staff members with scientific backgrounds. Kim Johnson MP, the chair of the APPG on miscarriages of justice, said the Post Office Horizon scandal and the exonerations of Malkinson and Sullivan highlighted the need for urgent reform of forensic provision. 'These cases are not isolated incidents but symptoms of deep, systemic failings in our criminal justice system,' she said. 'We owe it to victims, their families, and the wider public to demand transparency, accountability, and meaningful reform. We must see the government act on this report without delay to restore trust and prevent future injustices.' A CCRC spokesperson said that in response to an independent review of its handling of the Malkinson case it had taken a number of steps to improve its forensics provision, including training sessions for staff. It said its Forensic Opportunities Programme, announced last year, was analysing pre-2016 convictions to assess whether advances in DNA technology could identify an offender and that it had recently recruited a full-time forensic science and evidence adviser. A government spokesperson said: 'We understand the importance of high-quality, timely forensic evidence for an effective criminal justice system that prevents crime, prosecutes suspects and gives victims the justice they deserve. 'In November 2024 at the NPCC/APCC summit, the home secretary acknowledged that the adoption of forensic science across the board has been uncoordinated. That's why we are appointing a national forensic science lead who will transform our approach by helping to create a new model of delivery with the police and forensic leaders to raise standards and improve efficiency, and ultimately build greater public confidence in our criminal justice system.'
