DNA lab’s 17 years of disasters

The 17-year saga of Queensland’s DNA laboratory raises the question: how many synonyms are there for the words shameful and debacle? At this stage, as many as 103,000 crime scene samples – many from suspected murderers and rapists – could need to be retested outside the state. As The Australian revealed earlier this year, the so-called Project 13 system used from 2007 to 2016 to deploy robots to retrieve samples from crime scenes was deeply flawed. The problem was detected as a result of Hedley Thomas’s expose of failures in the system he uncovered while preparing Shandee’s Story, the podcast about the murder of Shandee Blackburn, then 23, in February 2013. Shandee was ambushed and stabbed 23 times about 100m from her home in Mackay, central Queensland.

Thomas, with the help of independent forensic biologist Kirsty Wright, uncovered major problems in DNA testing that led to retired judge Walter Sofronoff’s DNA inquiry last year. Reviewing that inquiry’s findings, Dr Wright detected that something was missing. Regrettably, the recklessly indifferent scientists who gave evidence remained as quiet as church mice about the Project 13 system. It was so bad that it failed to find DNA in a pool of blood in the gutter where Shandee was stabbed.

Unfortunately a second inquiry, by retired Federal Court judge Annabelle Bennett, stopped short of holding any of those scientists to account. Forensic Science Queensland’s new chief executive, Linzi Wilson-Wilde, was cleared to continue overseeing the lab despite the fact she failed to raise the alarm at the Sofronoff inquiry.

Two key issues matter now. First, for the sake of justice, especially for the victims of serious crimes and their loved ones, the DNA samples retrieved after 2007 need to be retested thoroughly, as soon as possible, preferably in an independent jurisdiction outside Queensland Health. It will take years and the retesting will be one of the largest operations of its kind anywhere. Murderers and rapists roaming free as a result of the shambles must be brought to justice. Just as important, the testing of samples from new cases must follow the highest standards. Nothing less will restore public confidence. The state government, which has oversight of the system, must apply itself to that responsibility, regularly and consistently. The Australian will be watching at every step. Like the Sofronoff inquiry, the Bennett report vindicated our pursuit and coverage of the issue. Such painstaking investigative journalism is time-consuming and costly. But without it the public would be in the dark still about 17 years of incompetence and injustice.