Forensics experts raises doubts over trial evidence

A British forensics expert has suggested that the manner in which forensic evidence in a rape and murder trial was collected prior to testing in the State Forensic Science Laboratory could have left it open to tampering or contamination.

Dr Denise Syndercombe Court, a forensic haemogeneticist and expert in genetics, was appearing as an expert witness for the defence in the trial of a Corkman whose DNA profile matched that of semen found in the body of Rachel Kiely, a 22-year-old woman who was raped and strangled as she brought her dogs for a walk in a park in Ballincollig in October 2000.