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Stephen Lawrence probe 'lacked written forensic system' | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
The trial of two men accused of killing Stephen Lawrence has been told there was no written procedure for handling forensic evidence in the case. | |
Exhibits officer Robert Crane told the Old Bailey there was no process to ensure evidence was not contaminated. | |
Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, both from south London, deny murder. | |
The prosecution says DNA evidence links the men to a group of white youths that attacked the black teenager in Eltham, south London, in 1993. | |
The 18-year-old A-Level student was forced to the ground at a bus stop and then stabbed twice, the prosecution says. | The 18-year-old A-Level student was forced to the ground at a bus stop and then stabbed twice, the prosecution says. |
Mr Crane told the court that items of clothing were placed in brown paper bags, but not always sealed. | |
He said there was no written procedure for ensuring that evidence was not contaminated. | |
And those handling the clothes wore gloves, but not the white forensic suits used today. | |
“Start Quote | |
Jury shown police surveillance photos of Gary Dobson and David Norris in days after Lawrence murder” | |
End Quote | |
BBC home affairs correspondent Matt Prodger said the reliability of scientific evidence was at the heart of the trial. | |
The prosecution has said textile fibres, and blood and hair matching Mr Lawrence was on clothing seized from the defendants in 1993 and discovered as part of a cold case review in 2007. | |
But in opening statements, lawyers for Mr Dobson and Mr Norris contended there had been contamination of evidence by the police. | |
Earlier, an officer who questioned Mr Dobson while on house-to-house inquiries said the defendant had seemed nervous. | |
Following the teenager's death, Graham Cooke conducted house-to-house inquiries during which Mr Dobson was questioned at his parents' home and asked whether he had been at the scene of the murder that night. | |
The retired police officer told the court: "Dobson said no, he was at home all night studying. He arrived home from college at 5.30pm, that his mother and father were indoors at the time. | The retired police officer told the court: "Dobson said no, he was at home all night studying. He arrived home from college at 5.30pm, that his mother and father were indoors at the time. |
"He said that he did not know the victim, he had heard about the incident from the papers." | "He said that he did not know the victim, he had heard about the incident from the papers." |
"In my opinion he was nervous at the time," said Mr Cooke. | "In my opinion he was nervous at the time," said Mr Cooke. |
The jury was also shown police surveillance photographs of the defendants outside a house in Bournbrook Road in Eltham. | |
The trial continues. | The trial continues. |