Police in Queensland are preparing to review thousands of DNA samples as the state’s premier says she’s “incredibly concerned” by the findings of an interim report into testing failures at the state’s forensic crime lab.
The damning findings, handed to cabinet on Tuesday by commissioner Walter Sofronoff, revealed that Queensland’s DNA laboratory had issued statements of “no DNA detected” and “insufficient DNA for further processing” when samples could have been tested.
The lab’s unusually high threshold for samples may have led to police investigations being “unnecessarily weakened or abandoned”, prosecutors deciding “not to commence criminal proceedings” or “the chance of conviction” being “forever lost”, the report said.
“I am of the opinion that the practice of putting forward these untrue statements as true expert evidence is a profound issue for the administration of criminal justice, for the integrity of police investigations and for decisions made by victims of crime,” Sofronoff wrote.
“The belief in the truth of these statements should not be permitted to continue for a day longer.”
Speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting to discuss the interim report, the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, confirmed the government could not afford to wait for the final report, due in December, before acting.
“I am shocked at the findings… I am incredibly concerned,” Palaszczuk told reporters on Tuesday.
“There will be action that will have to be taken straight away.”
The government has ordered Queensland police urgently retest all samples with “insufficient” or “no DNA detected” taken between February 2018 and June 2022.
In a press conference on Tuesday, acting deputy commissioner Mark Wheeler said the number of samples requiring review was in the thousands.
“We look at the seriousness of the case first. We’ve got to prioritise. That’s why we’ve set up a team who are experts in that area, he said.
“They’re all very, very seasoned detectives, and we’ll work through that backlog as quickly as we can.”
Police have also established a hotline for victims of crime who wish to have DNA samples reviewed.
Potential problems with the lab first came to light as a result of the Australian’s podcast series about the investigation into the murder of Shandee Blackburn in 2013.
Queensland’s threshold for testing DNA changed in 2018 to require samples to contain double the number of cells required in NSW.
The government reversed that decision in June and the health minister, Yvette D’Ath, said she did not know what had prompted the change to a higher threshold.
“Even if there’s one, just one case, one victim, one alleged perpetrator where the DNA shows a connection … we have a responsibility to act and provide that person with justice in whatever way we can,” D’Ath said.
Sofronoff’s final report is due on 13 December.
Additional reporting by Australian Associated Press
