Hundreds of convictions reviewed af ter lab test ‘tampering’
‘No system is foolproof’
HUNDREDS of police investigations were under review yesterday after allegations emerged t hat forensic laboratory workers had tampered with drug test results.
Two men have been arrested over accusations of data manipulation at Randox Testing Services, which analyses blood, saliva and hair samples for police forces.
The arrests raised the prospect that hundreds of people could have been victims of miscarriages of justice because of convictions based on flawed test results.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said it was looking into 484 cases handled by RTS, and confirmed a criminal investigation had been launched into the ‘quality failure’.
Forces around Britain must review their cases and decide if prosecutions have been based on ‘compromised data’, it said.
It could lead to thousands of appeals if innocent people have been wrongly convicted based on false drug test results. RTS denied reports that samples had been interfered with and said the tests could be re-run to provide uncompromised results. It blamed ‘the perverse actions of individuals’.
The firm, which is based in Northern Ireland with offices in London and Manchester, said the police investigation was limited to its Manchester site, where the arrested men had worked for three years.
Alcohol testing for drink- drive cases is not carried out at the Manchester site, and the firm denied claims that alcohol had been added to samples to turn negative results into positive ones. It insisted the allegations related to quality control data.
Dorset Chief Constable Debbie Simpson, the NPCC l ead for forensic science, said: ‘We have been made aware of a quality failure with RTS which is currently being investigated and a criminal inquiry has been launched by Greater Manchester Police.
‘Randox has provided each force with a list of cases that could have been affected. Working in partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service, we have provided guidance to forces so they are able to review each case to determine if compromised data played a part in prosecution and the CPS will then take appropriate action in any cases identified.’
RTS, part of the Randox Laboratories Group, has Home Office approval to carry out drug and alcohol tests on behalf of police forces around the country.
Testing was outsourced to private companies following the closure of the independent state-run Forensic Science Service in 2012.
On its website, RTS said police were alerted after an internal investigation raised suspicions that one or two ‘rogue analysts’ had manipulated quality control data, but not the samples themselves. A statement said: ‘Where possible, when viable, samples will be re-run to provide robust, uncompromised results. No system is completely foolproof and no industry is immune from the activities of a rogue employee.’
Tory MP Tim Loughton, who sits on the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: ‘Serious questions need to be asked about how this was able to happen, and what checks and balances are in place.’
Greater Manchester Police said two men, aged 47 and 31, were arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and bailed until next month.