Drug-drive suspect in clear after test doubts
LAWYER WANTS CASES REVIEWED AS MAN’S CHARGES DROPPED OVER ‘ANOMALIES’ IN BLOOD RESULTS
CHARGES against a suspected drugdriver have been dropped over ‘anomalies’ in a blood test carried out by a lab at the centre of police investigation.
The lab results suggested the 25-yearold had tested positive for cannabis and cocaine.
But over the weekend it emerged the Manchester forensic services firm Randox was being investigated by police over concerns about 484 blood tests.
Within 24 hours charges against the suspected drug driver were withdrawn.
His lawyer, Nick Freeman, known as Mr Loophole, said the cases against other suspected drug drivers must be in serious doubt.
The Manchester lawyer said: “Every drug-drive case where a conviction has hinged on data from Randox must, in my view, be reviewed.
“This current police investigation will have massive implications for drug drivers who have been convicted on the strength of a Randox blood-sample test.
“If it wasn’t for the thorough and diligent work of our own expert, and his concerns over this case, our client may well have been wrongly convicted.
“We shall be reviewing all cases in which Randox has been involved in providing expert evidence which has resulted in conviction.”
Randox has said it was them who alerted the authorities leading to the discontinuation of the case and insisted Mr Freeman “played no role in uncovering the information”. A spokesman said: “It was RTS Manchester who alerted the Police and the CPS as soon as we identified the manipulation of the quality control data. The CPS discontinued the case because of the data manipulation that had been brought to their attention. Mr Freeman played no role in uncovering this information.”
Randox has provided forensic services to police forces, including Greater Manchester Police, for the past two years.
Two analysts have been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and questioned over alleged tampering at the lab which is used by more than half of UK police forces.
Scores of court cases will now be reviewed by the Crown Prosecution Service to see if they were affected by ‘compromised data.’ Police forces have been provided with a list of cases that may have been affected. The majority of samples are linked to criminal investigations. Most relate to drug-driving but a small proportion of tests were carried out on samples from suspected victims of crime. Randox alerted authorities after an internal probe last month found evidence to suggest ‘toxicology data was compromised’
The Home Secretary has also been made aware of the investigation.
A CPS spokesperson said the case was discontinued as there was not enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.
They added: “We are working with the Home Office, police and the Office of the Forensic Science Regulator to assess the impact of the testing failure at Randox Testing Services.
“This includes establishing which cases have been affected by this issue and working with other agencies to decide what action should be taken in relation to those cases.” Nick Freeman