Posted on 02/24/2006 10:00:47 PM PST by nickcarraway
As the police DNA database grows it looks set to be one of the most formidable crimefighting tools ever. Andrew Robinson reports.
TAHIR Mahmood's crime is one of only a handful of cases to be solved in the UK through tracing a relative's DNA – but it certainly won't be the last.
Detectives are hailing "familial searching" as a major crime-fighting tool and it will only get more useful as the DNA database grows.
The world's largest database contains the DNA of 3,222,915 people and is growing by around 10,000 a week. Among the cases solved using database searches for relatives are the murders of three Welsh teenagers in the 1970s.
It remained unsolved for 29 years until a DNA search led to a relative of Port Talbot man Joseph Kappen, who had been suspected of the crimes but had died before justice could catch up with him.
His body was exhumed in 2002 and his DNA profile showed he had raped and killed the teenagers.
In 2004, Jason Ward, 23, became the first person in the UK to be convicted of murder following the use of the new search tool.
He was jailed for the rape and murder of pensioner Gladys Godfrey in Nottinghamshire when a relative's name was one of a number suggested to detectives by the Forensic Science Service (FSS).
In the same year, Craig Harman, 20, was traced through a relative's DNA after he killed a lorry driver by hurling a rock from a bridge on the M3.
Last night the FSS said six cases had been solved through relatives' DNA searches and a further eight cases were pending.
Detectives have no doubt about the value of the DNA database and family searches when trying to solve crimes such as murder and rape.
Detective Superintendent John Parkinson, of West Yorkshire Police, is working on around 30 "cold" cases in which DNA could play a vital part.
He said: "Without this technique people like Tahir Mahmood would never be brought to justice.
"This is the first historic case to be solved using the familial technique where we have started with a blank page, with no lines of inquiry.
"It's a humbling experience when you speak to victims in cases like this.
"It brings them closure so they can finally put it behind them. It's very rewarding for us as police officers.
"The sense you get knocking on a door of an offender after so many years is a fantastic feeling. "I'm convinced the DNA database will lead to a downward trend of sexual offending.
"DNA is so good at identifying people that eventually they will realise there is no escape for them."
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