Queensland Premer ‘shocked’ by interim findings into state’s forensic lab

The Queensland Premier has said she is “shocked” after it emerged that thousands of DNA samples used in criminal cases may need to be retested.

Criminals in Queensland may have got away with scores of murders, robberies and rapes after the state’s main forensic lab was accused of making “untrue” statements about the quality of DNA tests.

An interim report from an inquiry into the testing regime revealed that the lab – whose evidence is key in court cases – dismissed huge numbers of samples potentially enabling perpetrators to go free.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the results were “shocking”.

The government has vowed to retest every DNA sample taken in the state since during the last four years.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has said she is shocked by the findings. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

Queensland Police acting assistant commissioner Marcus Hill said no one knew how many cases might be affected but it could be in the thousands.

“Worst case scenario, there could be people that are offenders that are still out there.”

The inquiry, led by retired Court of Appeal president Walter Sofronoff KC found Queensland Health’s Forensic Scientific Service would routinely dismiss DNA samples under a certain threshold as not being reliable enough to produce proper results.

However, that threshold line seemed to be arbitrary. New South Wales, for instance, tested DNA samples with half the number of cells of Queensland.

It meant that samples that could have produced a full or partial profile were ignored by the Queensland lab.

Scores of viable DNA samples may not have been tested. Picture: Sam Ruttyn.

“The absence of DNA evidence when it was actually available might have resulted in a line of investigation by police being unnecessarily weakened or abandoned,” Mr Sofronoff wrote.

“Also, a prosecutor might be inclined to accept a plea of guilty to a lesser offence because of the absence of such evidence which, if it had been obtained, would have sustained a conviction for a more serious offence.

“I am of the opinion that the practice of putting forward these untrue statements as true expert evidence is a profound issue for the administration of criminal justice, for the integrity of police investigations and for decisions made by victims of crime.”

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said every DNA sample back to 2018 would be tested again.

“We will test all of them. It is important that we prioritise those cases that are … before the courts.

Justice Walter Sofronoff chaired the inquiry. Pictures: Jack Tran

“I want answers. The government wants answers. And I have no doubt that Commissioner Sofronoff will leave no stone unturned to find out how this has occurred.”

Premier Palaszczuk said the inquiry’s findings were “shocking”.

“I am incredibly concerned, there will be quick action that will need to be taken straight away’”.

No individual has been highlighted for blame in the interim report.

Issue relating to the testing of DNA in Queensland was first raised in The Australian’s podcast Shandee’s Story that was written by journalist Hedley Thomas.

It focused on the murder of Shandee Blackburn from Macaky in 2013.