Lambeth police slammed after DNA samples were left in a fridge for four years (From Your Local Guardian)

Lambeth police slammed after DNA samples were left in a fridge for four years

8:20am Thursday 14th January 2010

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Bungling cops left DNA samples from rape and murder investigations in a Lambeth police station fridge for more than four years - jeopardising their use in cracking unsolved cases.

Inspectors visiting Kennington police station found some 24 swab samples dating back to 2004 and 2005 - some linked to "very serious offences" - that should have been sent to the DNA database.

A fridge was so full a number of samples - including "postmortem exhibits or samples" and unlabelled samples - fell out when the door was opened. Other samples had been initially taken in "an uncontrolled environment".

A scathing report into the June inspection, published last month by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), said the findings showed “significant weaknesses” in the way the station handled forensic samples that "needed urgent attention”.

The report said: "(The sample's) non-submission had the potential to lead to cold cases not being solved."

Poorly stored DNA evidence can be challenged in the courts.

The report also cites “technological and procedural failures” with Brixton police station's CCTV, which have reignited concerns over police conduct surrounding the death of Brixton resident Sean Rigg in the station yard in 2008.

The investigation into his death was hampered by CCTV cameras in crucial spots either being non-existant or not working - and led to accusations of a police cover up.

Ten months after his death in August 2008, the HMIC inspection found CCTV footage within Brixton police station's custody suite was being recorded over because tapes were not replaced in the police’s out-of-date tape recorders.

As a result, footage of particular detainees was not available for an entire three week period in March 2009 – after a serious complaint was made against officers.

Mr Rigg's sister, Samantha Rigg David, said more should have been done to correct CCTV issues in light of her brother's death.

She said: "People die because of systemic negligence. It’s been nearly one and a half years since our brother Sean's tragic death in that police station. Have they not learned any lessons?"

The HMIC report stated: "In the event of a critical incident in custody, the inability of the MPS to produce a CCTV tape for whatever reason could be viewed with deep suspicion by parts of the community that lack confidence in the police and could exacerbate a situation unnecessarily.”

Lambeth's borough commander, Chief Superintendent Nick Ephgrave, who joined the borough in June 2009, said sections of the report were "very concerning" and had led to "a complete overhaul of systems”.

A digital CCTV system has now been "fast-tracked" in to Brixton and was fully operational last month, which Chief Supt Ephgrave said would cut out future problems.

He said the "major error" involving DNA samples was due to "poor management" where no-one was accountable for correctly storing the samples.

He said new systems - which saw the fridges checked daily and made top officers accountable - had "solved the problem entirely".

Brixton's storage of DNA was the best inspectors had seen in the Met.

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