Criminal trials could collapse because of a potential failure to supply courts with DNA and scientific evidence following spending cuts and the Government’s troubled privatisation of forensic science services, a new report by the spending watchdog reveals today. Spending on costly forensic examinations has been cut by more than £20m in the past two years and experts warned of possible miscarriages of justice as police save money by carrying out work within their own laboratories. The research was ordered because of concerns about the closure of the independent state-run Forensic Science Service (FSS) in 2012 amid multimillion-pound annual losses and a series of blunders, which has moved the burden of testing on to police forces and the private sector. But cuts in spending on forensic science have prompted concerns that a major player in the market could pull out and spark a crisis within the criminal justice system, the National Audit Office (NAO) report said. Read more over at the Independent website:
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 09:04:57 +0000
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