Networked Knowledge - Media Report

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

DNA Homepage
Go to: A state of Injustice - table of contents
Go to: Losing Their Grip - The Case of Henry Keogh - table of contents

On 6 August 2008 ABC reported "Vic Police to review 7,000 cases after DNA contamination".

It said, Victorian Police say they deeply regret the incident.

Victoria Police are reviewing more than 7,000 cases involving DNA evidence, after the discovery of a mistake in a 20 year old murder investigation. Last month, Russell John Gesah was charged with the murders of Margaret Tapp and her daughter Seana at Ferntree Gully in 1984. At the time police said breakthroughs in DNA technology allowed them to link Gesah to the crimes through a national DNA database. Deputy Commissioner Simon Overland now says the evidence from the Tapp murders had been contaminated. "What we had here was an error, it's a human error, that's the reason that we have systems, because humans aren't foolproof and occasionally they make mistakes," he said.

Police say that the contamination occurred in 1999 when clothing from an unrelated offence had been examined and found to contain DNA matching Russell John Gesah. Some of the clothing from the Tapp murder case was examined on the same day. The area was cleaned in between each examination but since that time, procedures have been upgraded to reflect more stringent cleaning processes, in line with more sensitive DNA tests. Where two apparently unrelated cases are matched through DNA, further checks are required, and that is where the problem was picked up.

Police say new procedures are now in place to make sure this kind of mistake is never repeated. Checks and reviews are underway to make sure there are no other potential problems. Deputy Commissioner Simon Overland says he is embarrassed by the bungle. "I have apologised to all people concerned, including Mr Gesah, for these events," he said. "We obviously regret them. It's preferable that they had not occurred, but they have and we can't really do more than that."

Top of Page