Whale rescuers in race against time after mass beaching at Scottish sea loch
July 23, 2011 No Comment
Divers fail to refloat 25 pilot whales after pod becomes stranded at low tide Rescuers returned 44 pilot whales to open water yesterday after a mass stranding in the estuary of a sea loch in the Scottish Highlands. Twenty-five whales from the pod died at the Kyle of Durness when they beached at low tide. Attempts to refloat the whales began on Friday night. British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) medics, the coastguard and the Royal Navy managed to rotate whales that were upside down to prevent them from drowning when the tide came in. BDMLR said many of the whales had stranded on their sides, on top of each other and upside down and were breathing in sand. Nine sets of pontoons were delivered to the site, but were not used as the estuary flooded too quickly. The water receded yesterday, and several bodies were discovered on shore. Three whales were found alive, but were put down by vets because their condition was not suitable for refloating. Post-mortem examinations to try to determine both the cause of the stranding and the deaths of the whales will now be carried out by pathologists, assisted by BDMLR medics. Rescuers continued to search the coast, lochs and headlands yesterday for evidence of the other whales who, it was hoped, had returned to open water. Pilot whales, which live in tight-knit social groups, prefer deep water but come inshore to feed on squid, their main food. Mark Simmonds, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society’s international head of science, said: “As they try to help each other, they may all come ashore.” He said the situation in the Kyle of Durness was a “whale trap”, a narrow body of water with many soft sandbank areas that may confound their echolocation abilities. “Something may have startled the group further out to sea and they panicked, came into this unusual situation and were unable to find their way out.” Pilot whales are among the most intelligent of all marine mammals and have what is described as an altruistic nature, tending to remain with sick members. “The stranding of one or two animals would possibly cause distress and the others in the group would try to assist the stranded individuals and themselves get into trouble,” said Simmonds. “Stranding on rocks will wound the whales quickly but even on a soft sandy shore it is still a race against time for experts to try to get them back into the water, and even then there may be a problem of persuading the group to go back into the open sea.” In May, about 60 pilot whales – which can grow up to 20ft long – appeared in Loch Carnan, South Uist. It is thought they may have lingered in the area because the animals were accompanying a dying female. They left the loch after one of the pod died of infection. Rescuers later found a second whale dead in the same loch, although it was thought to have floated in on the tide. In October last year, 33 whales were found dead on a Donegal beach. Whales guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Whale rescuers in race against time after mass beaching at Scottish sea loch
July 23, 2011 No CommentDivers fail to refloat 25 pilot whales after pod becomes stranded at low tide Rescuers returned 44 pilot whales to open water yesterday after a mass stranding in the estuary of a sea loch in the Scottish Highlands. Twenty-five whales from the pod died at the Kyle of Durness when they beached at low tide. Attempts to refloat the whales began on Friday night. British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) medics, the coastguard and the Royal Navy managed to rotate whales that were upside down to prevent them from drowning when the tide came in. BDMLR said many of the whales had stranded on their sides, on top of each other and upside down and were breathing in sand. Nine sets of pontoons were delivered to the site, but were not used as the estuary flooded too quickly. The water receded yesterday, and several bodies were discovered on shore. Three whales were found alive, but were put down by vets because their condition was not suitable for refloating. Post-mortem examinations to try to determine both the cause of the stranding and the deaths of the whales will now be carried out by pathologists, assisted by BDMLR medics. Rescuers continued to search the coast, lochs and headlands yesterday for evidence of the other whales who, it was hoped, had returned to open water. Pilot whales, which live in tight-knit social groups, prefer deep water but come inshore to feed on squid, their main food. Mark Simmonds, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society’s international head of science, said: “As they try to help each other, they may all come ashore.” He said the situation in the Kyle of Durness was a “whale trap”, a narrow body of water with many soft sandbank areas that may confound their echolocation abilities. “Something may have startled the group further out to sea and they panicked, came into this unusual situation and were unable to find their way out.” Pilot whales are among the most intelligent of all marine mammals and have what is described as an altruistic nature, tending to remain with sick members. “The stranding of one or two animals would possibly cause distress and the others in the group would try to assist the stranded individuals and themselves get into trouble,” said Simmonds. “Stranding on rocks will wound the whales quickly but even on a soft sandy shore it is still a race against time for experts to try to get them back into the water, and even then there may be a problem of persuading the group to go back into the open sea.” In May, about 60 pilot whales – which can grow up to 20ft long – appeared in Loch Carnan, South Uist. It is thought they may have lingered in the area because the animals were accompanying a dying female. They left the loch after one of the pod died of infection. Rescuers later found a second whale dead in the same loch, although it was thought to have floated in on the tide. In October last year, 33 whales were found dead on a Donegal beach. Whales guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The space shuttle is gone, but worry not. Private industry is coming to the rescue, and fast. Inspired by a $30 million prize put up by Google , 29 entrepreneur/engineer teams are out to prove they have what it takes to win the kitty and become the first private enterprise to…
Continue reading …
Victims’ lawyers condemn ‘scandalous’ defence that Catholic priests are not legally employees of the church Victims of sexual abuse by priests will no longer be able to sue the Catholic church for damages if a landmark judgment rules that priests should not be considered as employees. In a little publicised case heard this month at the high court, the church claimed that it is not “vicariously liable” for priests’ actions. The church has employed the argument in the past but this was the first time it had been used in open court and a ruling in the church’s favour would set a legal precedent. The use of the defence raises further questions about the church’s willingness to accept culpability for abuse. It follows a damning report into abuse at the diocese of Cloyne in Ireland which prompted the Irish president, Mary McAleese, to call on leaders of the church “to urgently reflect on how, by coherent and effective action, it can restore public trust and confidence in its stated objective of putting children first”. Those planning to bring claims in relation to the high court case expressed dismay. “As children, we weren’t given an innocent, carefree and safe environment,” said one. “We weren’t given a peaceful structure in which to grow and develop normally. By some miracle, some of us are still here to voice the words of so many who can’t. Only a small number of victims ever come forward. The full potential of who we could have been as adults has been stolen.” The church’s defence has been condemned by lawyers. “I think the Catholic church’s attempt to avoid responsibility for the abhorrent actions of one of its priests is nothing short of scandalous,” said Richard Scorer of the law firm Pannone, which specialises in abuse cases. “The Catholic church would be better served by facing up to its responsibilities rather than trying to hide behind spurious employment law arguments.” The ruling is being made as part of a preliminary hearing into the case of “JGE”, who claims to have been sexually abused while a six-year-old resident at The Firs, a children’s home in Portsmouth run by an order of nuns, the English Province of Our Lady of Charity. “If we fail, it would mean that no other victims of Catholic priests would be able to be compensated,” said Tracey Emmott of Emmott Snell, a specialist in working with sexual abuse claims who is representing JGE. JGE alleges that she was sexually abused by Father Wilfred Baldwin, a priest of the Roman Catholic diocese of Portsmouth and its “vocations director”, who regularly visited The Firs during the 70s. Her legal team claim the nuns were negligent and in breach of duty, and that the diocese was liable for Baldwin’s alleged abuse as he was a Catholic priest engaged within the work of the diocese. Previous hearings in the House of Lords and the court of appeal relating to other church organisations have found that ministers should be treated as employees. But there has been no judgment yet on whether the relationship between a Catholic priest and his bishop is akin to an employment relationship. “They claim that the relationship between the bishop of the diocese and the parish priest in question does not amount to anything akin to a relationship of employment, and therefore there cannot be any ‘vicarious liability’ for the priest’s acts,” Emmott said. “That is to say, whatever sexual abuse their priests might commit, it is not their responsibility. They are absolved of blame. We need to show that, while Father Baldwin wasn’t strictly an employee of the church, he was acting on the bishop’s behalf and that the bishop clearly had a degree of control over his
Continue reading …
Victims’ lawyers condemn ‘scandalous’ defence that Catholic priests are not legally employees of the church Victims of sexual abuse by priests will no longer be able to sue the Catholic church for damages if a landmark judgment rules that priests should not be considered as employees. In a little publicised case heard this month at the high court, the church claimed that it is not “vicariously liable” for priests’ actions. The church has employed the argument in the past but this was the first time it had been used in open court and a ruling in the church’s favour would set a legal precedent. The use of the defence raises further questions about the church’s willingness to accept culpability for abuse. It follows a damning report into abuse at the diocese of Cloyne in Ireland which prompted the Irish president, Mary McAleese, to call on leaders of the church “to urgently reflect on how, by coherent and effective action, it can restore public trust and confidence in its stated objective of putting children first”. Those planning to bring claims in relation to the high court case expressed dismay. “As children, we weren’t given an innocent, carefree and safe environment,” said one. “We weren’t given a peaceful structure in which to grow and develop normally. By some miracle, some of us are still here to voice the words of so many who can’t. Only a small number of victims ever come forward. The full potential of who we could have been as adults has been stolen.” The church’s defence has been condemned by lawyers. “I think the Catholic church’s attempt to avoid responsibility for the abhorrent actions of one of its priests is nothing short of scandalous,” said Richard Scorer of the law firm Pannone, which specialises in abuse cases. “The Catholic church would be better served by facing up to its responsibilities rather than trying to hide behind spurious employment law arguments.” The ruling is being made as part of a preliminary hearing into the case of “JGE”, who claims to have been sexually abused while a six-year-old resident at The Firs, a children’s home in Portsmouth run by an order of nuns, the English Province of Our Lady of Charity. “If we fail, it would mean that no other victims of Catholic priests would be able to be compensated,” said Tracey Emmott of Emmott Snell, a specialist in working with sexual abuse claims who is representing JGE. JGE alleges that she was sexually abused by Father Wilfred Baldwin, a priest of the Roman Catholic diocese of Portsmouth and its “vocations director”, who regularly visited The Firs during the 70s. Her legal team claim the nuns were negligent and in breach of duty, and that the diocese was liable for Baldwin’s alleged abuse as he was a Catholic priest engaged within the work of the diocese. Previous hearings in the House of Lords and the court of appeal relating to other church organisations have found that ministers should be treated as employees. But there has been no judgment yet on whether the relationship between a Catholic priest and his bishop is akin to an employment relationship. “They claim that the relationship between the bishop of the diocese and the parish priest in question does not amount to anything akin to a relationship of employment, and therefore there cannot be any ‘vicarious liability’ for the priest’s acts,” Emmott said. “That is to say, whatever sexual abuse their priests might commit, it is not their responsibility. They are absolved of blame. We need to show that, while Father Baldwin wasn’t strictly an employee of the church, he was acting on the bishop’s behalf and that the bishop clearly had a degree of control over his
Continue reading …Met police are accused of pursuing a ‘vindictive’ case against UK Uncut tax protesters
July 23, 2011 No Comment
Prosecution of ‘ringleaders’ of Fortnum & Mason demo is effort to halt direct action protests, say critics They were, say prosecutors, the ringleaders of one of the most high-profile protest acts of recent years – the occupation in March of the luxury Fortnum & Mason store in Mayfair during an anti-cuts demonstration. But supporters of the 30 activists whose trial starts this week say their treatment is irrational and vindictive, and that charges of aggravated trespass should be lifted, as they were for more than 100 of their fellow UK Uncut activists last week. Lawyers have written to the Crown Prosecution Service ahead of hearings, claiming that the continued targeting of selected activists could amount to a misuse of the law to undermine peaceful protest. Prosecutors remain intent on taking 30 “ringleaders” to trial. Critics claim police are pushing ahead with the case in order to “break” UK Uncut and put an end to the growing trend for “direct action” by demonstrators. Protesters in Fortnum & Mason were told by police that they would not be arrested if they left the store peacefully, but it emerged last week that their subsequent detention had been planned. A letter sent by law firm Bindmans to Alison Saunders, the chief Crown prosecutor, and to Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, on Friday claims that the CPS and police have attempted to distort the intentions of protesters and “portray the core of this action as disorderly and violent”. Mike Schwarz, a solicitor for Bindmans, also said the Metropolitan police had failed to answer a query in April over whether undercover officers had been involved in the Fortnum & Mason protest against tax evasion. The lawyer has requested that any information relating to undercover officers “in the infiltrations of the demonstrations or prosecutions” of any of those arrested at Fortnum & Mason be disclosed. Last week the convictions of 20 environmental protesters for attempting to shut down a power station were quashed after judges ruled that crucial evidence recorded by a police spy, Mark Kennedy, had been withheld. Lawyers claim they have received no evidence that any of the 30 still facing prosecution were in any sense “organisers” of the UK Uncut occupation of the luxury department store on 26 March, which coincided with the TUC anti-cuts march in London. The group says it has no central leadership. The Observer has learned the details of the cases assembled by prosecutors against the activists, including the sometimes bizarre grounds selected for identifying the supposed organisers of the protest. A 24-year-old man is facing trial on the basis that “he entered the store with a placard”. Lawyers from Hodge Jones & Allen, who are also representing the protesters, say no information has been provided relating to when he acquired the placard or even what it stated. In a separate letter to the CPS, solicitor Raj Chada, head of the protest law team at Hodge Jones & Allen, said: “We understand that the banner is in relation to ‘anti cuts’ generally, rather than specifically UK Uncut, and is similar in type to others carried by the 500,000 who attended the March for the Alternative.” Chada said it was bizarre that protesters would escape prosecution simply because they were not holding a placard. “One individual will face no criminal prosecution; the other faces a prosecution that can subject the defendant to a potential prison sentence of three months. This is decision making that is arbitrary, irrational and unreasonable.” Others charged include a 23-year-old woman, who “unfurled a notice on the stairwell” of the store. Another protester is facing prosecution “due to her placing leaflets on displays”. A third is referred to in the documents as “carrying an umbrella into the store”. One 22-year-old participant is accused of carrying UK Uncut cordon tape and more than 50 printed signs stating: “Big society, revenue and customs: if they won’t chase them, we will.” Prosecutors, according to lawyers, also targeted people caught carrying 20 or more UK Uncut leaflets. “The Crown has treated this as a ‘tick box’ exercise rather than a proper evidential evaluation of organisational involvement,” said Chada. Some activists have been targeted on the basis of previous convictions of aggravated trespass. Bindmans’ letter points out that some have convictions for aggravated trespass during protests in 2009 at Ratcliffe power station, the case that became notorious for the role of Kennedy. Schwarz said the singling out of UK Uncut members over previous protests would seem “to an outside observer irrational and vindictive”. The CPS, however, maintained yesterday that there is “sufficient evidence against the 30″ for them to face trial. A spokesman said: “We have identified 30 defendants whose actions, the evidence shows, were more culpable than the others, such as where there is evidence that they organised the action, or where defendants have relevant previous convictions.” Seventeen of the protesters will appear at a City of Westminster magistrates court tomorrow. Thirteen have already denied the charges against them, and the rest are expected to follow suit. About 150 activists were arrested in Fortnum & Mason despite holding what Chief Inspector Claire Clark described as a non-violent and “sensible” demonstration. As they left the store, the activists were handcuffed and taken to London police stations, where they were held in cells for up to 24 hours. Three days after the arrests, Lynne Owens, assistant commissioner of the Met, told the home affairs select committee that police arrested so many people that day because it gave them “important intelligence opportunities”. The case has proved embarrassing for the Met, with claims that the senior officer at the heart of policing the demonstration deceived protesters into a mass arrest. Video footage shows Clark denying that anyone would be detained after leaving Fortnum & Mason. UK Uncut sources claim that the Met was so desperate for intelligence on the relatively new protest group that it undertook mass arrests to learn more about the command structure of the organisation. The 30 alleged ringleaders include teachers, charity workers, town planners and religious studies tutors who lawyers say have had their lives “severely disrupted” since their arrest four months ago. The trials, if they go ahead, are likely to be held in November. UK Uncut Protest Tax avoidance Corporate governance Mark Townsend guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Met police are accused of pursuing a ‘vindictive’ case against UK Uncut tax protesters
July 23, 2011 No CommentProsecution of ‘ringleaders’ of Fortnum & Mason demo is effort to halt direct action protests, say critics They were, say prosecutors, the ringleaders of one of the most high-profile protest acts of recent years – the occupation in March of the luxury Fortnum & Mason store in Mayfair during an anti-cuts demonstration. But supporters of the 30 activists whose trial starts this week say their treatment is irrational and vindictive, and that charges of aggravated trespass should be lifted, as they were for more than 100 of their fellow UK Uncut activists last week. Lawyers have written to the Crown Prosecution Service ahead of hearings, claiming that the continued targeting of selected activists could amount to a misuse of the law to undermine peaceful protest. Prosecutors remain intent on taking 30 “ringleaders” to trial. Critics claim police are pushing ahead with the case in order to “break” UK Uncut and put an end to the growing trend for “direct action” by demonstrators. Protesters in Fortnum & Mason were told by police that they would not be arrested if they left the store peacefully, but it emerged last week that their subsequent detention had been planned. A letter sent by law firm Bindmans to Alison Saunders, the chief Crown prosecutor, and to Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, on Friday claims that the CPS and police have attempted to distort the intentions of protesters and “portray the core of this action as disorderly and violent”. Mike Schwarz, a solicitor for Bindmans, also said the Metropolitan police had failed to answer a query in April over whether undercover officers had been involved in the Fortnum & Mason protest against tax evasion. The lawyer has requested that any information relating to undercover officers “in the infiltrations of the demonstrations or prosecutions” of any of those arrested at Fortnum & Mason be disclosed. Last week the convictions of 20 environmental protesters for attempting to shut down a power station were quashed after judges ruled that crucial evidence recorded by a police spy, Mark Kennedy, had been withheld. Lawyers claim they have received no evidence that any of the 30 still facing prosecution were in any sense “organisers” of the UK Uncut occupation of the luxury department store on 26 March, which coincided with the TUC anti-cuts march in London. The group says it has no central leadership. The Observer has learned the details of the cases assembled by prosecutors against the activists, including the sometimes bizarre grounds selected for identifying the supposed organisers of the protest. A 24-year-old man is facing trial on the basis that “he entered the store with a placard”. Lawyers from Hodge Jones & Allen, who are also representing the protesters, say no information has been provided relating to when he acquired the placard or even what it stated. In a separate letter to the CPS, solicitor Raj Chada, head of the protest law team at Hodge Jones & Allen, said: “We understand that the banner is in relation to ‘anti cuts’ generally, rather than specifically UK Uncut, and is similar in type to others carried by the 500,000 who attended the March for the Alternative.” Chada said it was bizarre that protesters would escape prosecution simply because they were not holding a placard. “One individual will face no criminal prosecution; the other faces a prosecution that can subject the defendant to a potential prison sentence of three months. This is decision making that is arbitrary, irrational and unreasonable.” Others charged include a 23-year-old woman, who “unfurled a notice on the stairwell” of the store. Another protester is facing prosecution “due to her placing leaflets on displays”. A third is referred to in the documents as “carrying an umbrella into the store”. One 22-year-old participant is accused of carrying UK Uncut cordon tape and more than 50 printed signs stating: “Big society, revenue and customs: if they won’t chase them, we will.” Prosecutors, according to lawyers, also targeted people caught carrying 20 or more UK Uncut leaflets. “The Crown has treated this as a ‘tick box’ exercise rather than a proper evidential evaluation of organisational involvement,” said Chada. Some activists have been targeted on the basis of previous convictions of aggravated trespass. Bindmans’ letter points out that some have convictions for aggravated trespass during protests in 2009 at Ratcliffe power station, the case that became notorious for the role of Kennedy. Schwarz said the singling out of UK Uncut members over previous protests would seem “to an outside observer irrational and vindictive”. The CPS, however, maintained yesterday that there is “sufficient evidence against the 30″ for them to face trial. A spokesman said: “We have identified 30 defendants whose actions, the evidence shows, were more culpable than the others, such as where there is evidence that they organised the action, or where defendants have relevant previous convictions.” Seventeen of the protesters will appear at a City of Westminster magistrates court tomorrow. Thirteen have already denied the charges against them, and the rest are expected to follow suit. About 150 activists were arrested in Fortnum & Mason despite holding what Chief Inspector Claire Clark described as a non-violent and “sensible” demonstration. As they left the store, the activists were handcuffed and taken to London police stations, where they were held in cells for up to 24 hours. Three days after the arrests, Lynne Owens, assistant commissioner of the Met, told the home affairs select committee that police arrested so many people that day because it gave them “important intelligence opportunities”. The case has proved embarrassing for the Met, with claims that the senior officer at the heart of policing the demonstration deceived protesters into a mass arrest. Video footage shows Clark denying that anyone would be detained after leaving Fortnum & Mason. UK Uncut sources claim that the Met was so desperate for intelligence on the relatively new protest group that it undertook mass arrests to learn more about the command structure of the organisation. The 30 alleged ringleaders include teachers, charity workers, town planners and religious studies tutors who lawyers say have had their lives “severely disrupted” since their arrest four months ago. The trials, if they go ahead, are likely to be held in November. UK Uncut Protest Tax avoidance Corporate governance Mark Townsend guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Amy Winehouse has been found dead in her London apartment, reports Sky News . “On arrival, officers found the body of a 27-year-old female who was pronounced dead at the scene,” said a police statement. It doesn’t name Winehouse, but Sky says authorities have confirmed that Winehouse is the victim. TMZ…
Continue reading …
Flagship initiative threatens safety of the disabled by suggesting that they are scroungers, say charities The government’s flagship Welfare to Work policy is inciting hatred and violence towards the disabled by portraying them as cheats and benefits scroungers, an alliance of charities has warned. A drip-feed of statistics about claimants who have been denied benefits by the Department for Work and Pensions because they are deemed fit to work threatens the safety and quality of life of its members, says an alliance of 50 charities. The government is feeding a negative attitude towards people with disabilities, which, the charities warn, will ultimately end in violence. The alliance has written an open letter to Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, after complaining that private warnings on the issue have gone unheeded. The charities say the government should instead be promoting the talents of those who no longer need to claim benefits. Alice Maynard, the chair of Scope, who is a wheelchair user, said: “We just feel it is too much now. It is becoming such a frequent occurrence, it is likely to have some very serious negative effects. I think in the end it ends up in violence.” She added that a hardening of attitudes meant she now “thought harder” about going out at night in London. Since the coalition government came to power, it has released quarterly statistics on the number of people who are turned down when claiming employment support allowance, which replaces incapacity benefit and income support paid on incapacity grounds. “Statistics released today show that three-quarters of people who apply for employment and support allowance are continuing to be found either fit for work or stop their claim before completing their medical assessment,” said the Department for Work and Pensions. The charities said the release of the figures and briefings from the DWP was feeding the stereotype that people who claimed benefits were scroungers. Four out of 10 of those turned down for support are granted it on appeal, said the charities, but this had not been widely publicised. Instead, a series of newspaper stories had been published featuring so-called benefits scroungers and cheats. A recent survey carried out by Scope found more than a third (37%) of people said attitudes towards them had got worse over the past year. Jaspal Dhani, chief executive of the United Kingdom Disabled People’s Council, said: “The language portrays disabled people as scroungers, as lazy – a drain who are not playing their part and making a contribution. It has led to an increase in hate crimes against disabled people, victimisation and reinforcement of very old stereotypes and prejudices. “In my experience as a disabled person in the last few months, when I have engaged strangers in conversation, they are surprised that as a wheelchair user I
Continue reading …
Forensic scientist threatens to sue after her work on Meredith Kercher murder is attacked in Amanda Knox appeal report Amanda Knox’s appeal against her conviction for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy faces a fresh challenge. A prominent forensic scientist, whose DNA evidence helped to convict the US student and her former boyfriend, has vowed to overturn the findings of an independent report that says much of her work in the case was unreliable. Knox returns to court in Perugiaon Monday, armed with the new forensic report, which she hopes will help lead to her being freed. Kercher was found with her throat slit in the Perugia apartment she shared with Knox in 2007. Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively in 2009 for the murder. A third suspect, Rudy Guede, had already been convicted for his role in the killing. Written by two independent experts from Rome’s Sapienza University, the 145-page DNA review rubbishes the work of Patrizia Stefanoni, the police forensic scientist who found Knox’s and Kercher’s DNA on a kitchen knife at Sollecito’s house and identified DNA belonging to Sollecito on a torn bra clasp found beside Kercher’s semi-naked body. The report claims Stefanoni ignored international DNA protocols, made basic errors and gave evidence in court that was not backed up by her laboratory work, rendering the knife and bra strap worthless as evidence. But Stefanoni has vowed to fight back during three hearings devoted to the DNA reviews. “I am angry about the false statements in this report and ready to come to court to highlight the past record of these experts,” she told the Observer . “I am also looking into taking legal action against them. What international DNA protocols are they talking about? The Italian police is a member of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI), while they are not.” Both Stefanoni and one of the report’s co-authors – Carla Vecchiotti – are influential figures in a restricted circle of DNA experts in Italy and are no strangers to headline-grabbing cases. Stefanoni’s work helped a British court in June convict an Italian, Daniele Restivo, of the ritualistic murder of Heather Barnett in Bournemouth in 2002. Vecchiotti has recently made the news in Italy with her work investigating a drug addict’s death in police custody and the murder of a teenage girl in Puglia. Soon after she was chosen to review Stefanoni’s work on the Knox case, Vecchiotti claimed that documents had been withheld from her. The final report, co-authored with Stefano Conti, bemoans the scant detail Stefanoni used to back up her findings. After discovering there was no DNA left to check on the knife or the bra clasp, the experts retraced the steps taken by Stefanoni, concluding that the DNA trace of Kercher on the blade was so weak it could not be reliably matched – or was at best the result of contamination – and quoted Stefanoni admitting in court she should have double-tested her result to be more convincing. Stefanoni claimed she had no need to repeat tests since the experts for the defence were on hand to witness her work. “And it was good enough to show it was Kercher’s DNA,” she said. “A small amount, but good quality.” Turning to the bra clasp, the report concludes that since it had been at the crime scene for 46 days before being collected, it was vulnerable to contamination. Stefanoni’s testing was in any case full of errors, the report adds – a charge she said was “simply not correct”, adding she was “very keen” to defend her work in court. The experts quote numerous US police and FBI experts on the risk of low DNA results and poor evidence handling, prompting one Italian police source to claim they were being fed information by Knox’s defence team. “We followed the guidelines of the ENFSI, theirs is just a collage of different international opinions,” said Stefanoni. The three days of DNA hearings, tomorrow, 30 July and 1 August, will be followed in September by final arguments, with the appeal verdict now expected around 25 September. Amanda Knox Meredith Kercher Italy Europe Tom Kington guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …