A6 Rebooted

[cobalt]

From the 2002 Appeal:

Evidence based upon the comparison of hairs and fibres was inconclusive.

These presumably came from the interior of the Morris Minor and from Valerie Storie’s clothing. Yet Hanratty’s hair, which was described by the appeal as ‘auburn’ had been died black on August 5^th according to Dixie France’s daughter, a trainee hairdresser.

Hanratty did this to make himself ‘less conspicuous’ but as was often the case with him, the concept had not been thought through. His hair became highly conspicuous and its unique colour blend as good as a fingerprint. I would suggest that a trainee lab technician would have had little trouble matching a single strand of Hanratty’s multi-coloured barnet. On that basis I have to assume that either James Hanratty managed to leave not a single hair follicle behind after a murder and rape inside the car, or that he was never there in the first place.

Maybe time for another search of the police basement to see if some hair and fibres have been left behind so as we can put the matter to rest.

[NickB]

Thanks Derrick. So Lincoln was there throughout the testing, including when the results were presented to Bindman.

On 3-Apr-01 Bindman gave his reaction to the press on the results and raised the contamination theory.

I cannot find any statement from Lincoln about the case after he left it. I seem to recall another poster suggesting that he left because his advice was that the DNA proved Hanratty's guilt; the appellant was then left with a mad scramble to find someone who would support the contamination theory that Bindman had suggested.

[Derrick]

...You have said Lincoln left (in 1997?) because he did not regard LCN to be a valid system...

Patrick Lincoln gave up his position as scientific advisor to the Hanratty family in late 2001. Dr Martin Evison wasn't employed by the appellants until February 2002 just 2 months before the appeal hearing. He oversaw no DNA testing and was poorly prepared for giving "expert testimony". He was ripped to pieces by Nigel Sweeney.

[moste]

Bindman wasn’t in any position to agree or disagree one way or another, he would have to be led by the specialist in the field, (Lincoln)but as you say Nick should have called a halt to the whole proceedings. Something very fishy about Hanratty’s representation in my opinion.

[moste]

Well they were invited to have someone observe the testing and it was up to them whether they did or not. On the documentary Lincoln appeared to be happy with what was happening, the material that was being worked on etc.

You have said Lincoln left (in 1997?) because he did not regard LCN to be a valid system. If this was so and Bindman agreed with this position I would have expected him to say at this point that the testing procedure was unsatisfactory and should not be pursued. By not doing he was giving credence to its validity.

‘ Invited to have someone observe’ . Since as you say Woffindon and Bindmann pressed for the tests to be carried out, then surely it should have been a team of defence experts conducting those tests , and inviting the prosecution to have a couple of their own experts to look in on the results. As it was , Lincoln withdrew since he wasn’t happy with the LCN method, Dr. Edison should have reneged from any further involvement. Rob Harriman (author of the DNA book) regarded Edison’s presence to be redundant, since he admittedly had very little experience with that method of DNA testing. The whole thing sounds to me like a sham.