WE ARE A MAGAZINE ABOUT LAW AND JUSTICE | AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO
March 10 2025
WE ARE A MAGAZINE ABOUT LAW AND JUSTICE | AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO

More than 20,000 trials collapsed in less than three years as a result of missing evidence

More than 20,000 trials collapsed in less than three years as a result of missing evidence

Old Bailey: the central criminal court of England and Wales

More than 20,000 trials collapsed as a result of evidence going missing in less than three years including more than 40 murder cases, according to data contained in a new study. In a new article for the International Journal of Police Science & Management, Dr Carole McCartney, an academic at Leicester University and a member of the Westminster Commission on Forensic Science, and investigative journalist Louise Shorter argue that losing investigative material is a hidden problem in the justice system and that its safe retention is ‘critical’ both to the system of criminal appeals and the re-investigation of ‘cold cases’.

The new article features data from the Crown Prosecution Service on the impact of lost materials on prosecutions. It reports that between October 2018 and August 2021, some 20,838 cases collapsed pre-trial due to missing and lost evidence, including 42 homicides and 364 sex offences.

The research follows an exchange with the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 2019 when the authors were challenged by the miscarriage of justice watchdog ‘to prove there is a problem’. ‘The CCRC do not (publicly) acknowledge that loss of materials is impacting their work, and the courts do not view the loss of materials as sufficient reason for a trial to be discontinued or an appeal to be heard,’ McCartney and Shorter argue.

They call for proper resourcing for police storage facilities as well as adequate training for staff. ‘Forensic regulation could not be said to have any (effective) oversight of this area, the College of Policing has no apparent interest and the National Police Chiefs Council and Forensics Capability Network may have written guidelines, but take a little role in overseeing the implementation.’

The authors highlight this year’s review by Baroness Casey which detailed the ‘dire state’ of police property storage including ‘freezers crammed full of evidence samples, which were overflowing, frosted over and taped shut’.

‘… the unit’s freezers, which held and preserved evidence obtained from victims and survivors of sexual violence including swabs, blood, urine and underwear, would be so full it would take three officers to close them: one person to push the door closed, one person to hold it shut, and one to secure the lock. All the fridges used for rape kits were in bad shape, packed and ruining evidence. In the heatwave in 2022, ‘G’ said that one freezer broke down and all of the evidence had to be destroyed because it could no longer be used. ‘G’ said a general email had been sent round to this effect and that it meant that all those cases of alleged rape would be dropped. ‘G’ also said she had ‘lost count’ of the number of times she had asked a colleague where the necessary evidence was before being told that it had been lost.’
Casey review, 2023: 179

McCartney and Shorter also highlight the ‘worrying inconsistency’ and ‘confusion’ between police forces in their approach to retention of investigative material.  They also argue that minimum retention periods – 30 years for serious crime – need to be longer.  It is ‘near impossible for prisoners who have been wrongly convicted to appeal quickly and it can take decades to re-investigate a case, particularly if the CCRC are involved, and this may take place after release,’ they say.

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