Networked Knowledge - Media Report

This version of the report has been prepared by: Dr Robert N Moles

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On 21 April 2008 Lisa Davies of the Daily Telegraph reported “Lauren Huxley accused attacker Robert Black Farmer a DNA 'cold hit'”.

She said, the officer who led the investigation into the violent assault on Lauren Huxley has told a Sydney court a DNA "cold hit" led police to the man now standing trial for attempted murder. Detective Sergeant Jason Dickinson has also categorically rejected suggestions he or one of his officers could have fabricated or tampered with the DNA samples to sure up the case against Robert Black Farmer. A Supreme Court jury has previously heard that swabs taken from the crime scene were tested at the Division of Analytical Laboratories (DAL), where DNA profiles were linked to Farmer's.  

Det Sgt Dickinson said he was contacted by the DAL officer on November 25 - two weeks after Ms Huxley was found severely bashed in her parent's burning Northmead home - to say a profile detected on the lid of a petrol tin was linked to Farmer's. Sgt Dickinson said the DNA match, with a probability of only one in ten billion that the two samples came from different people, was the closest he had ever encountered. "This is the first case I have had which has had a statistical average that high," he told the court. "It caused the focus of the investigation to be turned towards the accused."

Analysis of samples taken from other sites in the home, including Ms Huxley's bedroom, subsequently revealed other partial matches with Farmer's DNA profile, he said. Sgt Dickinson agreed there was at least one DNA profile located in the home which remained unidentified. Under cross-examination by Farmer's barrister, Carolyn Davenport SC, Det Dickinson said he had not even tried to access the crime scene exhibits before they were sent for testing, or asked anyone else to. "Absolutely not, at no time in any inquiry would I suggest to any officer that they should do anything at all to impact upon the forensic value of any evidentiary material," he said. Ms Davenport asked if he had done it himself.

Not at all, absolutely not," he said. The trial continues.

Huxley DNA match 'best ever'

a police officer in charge of investigating the attempted murder of Lauren Huxley has told a Sydney court he has never before worked on a case with such a close DNA match. Ms Huxley, 21, was bashed, doused in petrol and left for dead in the garage of her home at Northmead in Sydney's west on November 9, 2005. Her attacker set the house alight and Ms Huxley was so severely beaten her face required total reconstruction and she suffered permanent brain damage.

Northmead construction worker Robert Black Farmer, 39, is standing trial in the NSW Supreme Court for her attempted murder. The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Sergeant Jason Dickinson, told the jury today that Farmer first came to the attention of police a few weeks after the attack, when analysis of DNA from a fuel tin lid found in the Huxley's garage returned a "cold hit" with Farmer. Sgt Dickinson said the DNA match, with a probability of only one in ten billion that the two samples came from different people, was the closest he had ever encountered.

"This is the first case I have had which has had a statistical average that high," he told the court. "It caused the focus of the investigation to be turned towards the accused." Analysis of samples taken from other sites in the home, including Ms Huxley's bedroom, subsequently revealed other partial matches with Farmer's DNA profile, he said. Sgt Dickinson agreed there was at least one DNA profile located in the home which remained unidentified. Farmer's barrister Carolyn Davenport SC said this profile had been found on the door handle of Ms Huxley's bedroom, but Sgt Dickinson said he believed it was a female profile and had been located on Ms Huxley's bedsheet.

The jury was told today that DNA swabs taken from the side railings of Ms Huxley's bed had been mixed up, with a dry swab from one site bagged with a wet swab from the other. Crime scene officer Detective Sergeant Robert Gibbs agreed with Ms Davenport that it was a crucial error, but insisted it was an innocent mistake. "I have mixed them up because I was tired," Sgt Gibbs said. "It had been a long few days." Sgt Dickinson denied tempering with swabs or instructing others to do so in the hope of "improving" the DNA profile to match that of Farmer.

The trial is continuing.

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