Ireland shares DNA data in bid to solve crimes
THOUSANDS of samples of biological material from crime scenes have been sent from Ireland to Austria in a bid to solve unresolved crimes – and the move has generated fresh suspects in Austria and Ireland.
Nearly 3,500 samples taken from crime scenes here have been searched against the Austrian database of 239,000 profiles of suspects and convicted offenders, as they could not be matched with any of the profiles on the DNA database in Dublin.
The results yielded matches with 11 people on the Austrian database across a range of serious offences, including sexual assaults, fraud and a litany of burglaries.
Intelligence reports will be sent to An Garda Síochána to advance these investigations through the relevant channels.
The exchange between the two countries follows legislation passed in December 2018, after the commencement of the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014.
As nearly 60 out of every
100 crime samples uploaded to the system are not linked to a person, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan previously stressed the importance of this exchange.
‘I have no doubt that access to DNA and such databases between states has huge potential to be very useful in view of the international mobility of criminals,’ said Mr Flanagan.
The cross-checked DNA profiles from two sexual assaults in Ireland matched the DNA profile of a person on the Austrian database, whose identity was previously unknown in Ireland.
A single profile from a cluster of five burglaries also matched a person who was in the Austrian database, whose identity, again, had been unknown in this country.
It also led to success in one fraud cause, and eight further people whose DNA was left behind in eight burglaries also matched eight people from the Austrian database.
Seven stains from crime scenes in Austria matched profiles on the Irish database and these included one convicted offender, and six suspects.
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice and Equality told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘FSI [Forensic Science Ireland] intends to exchange with all participating countries in the coming years.’
They added: ‘FSI plans to initiate exchanges with other countries during 2019, including the Netherlands and the United Kingdom’.