Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Forensic evidence stands accused

By James Randerson and Andy Coghlan

31 January 2004

THE UK has been troubled this past week by revelations that flawed scientific advice given to courts may have led to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of men and women accused of harming their children.

More than 250 infant death convictions, and potentially thousands of child abuse cases, are to be reviewed after judges decided that the cases may have relied too heavily on controversial and conflicting medical theories.

However, a Âé¶¹´«Ã½ investigation has discovered that other, potentially flawed, forensic assumptions are still routinely being accepted by the courts.

One such assumption is the supposed infallibility of fingerprint evidence,…

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