QCCL supports inquiry into forensic laboratory

The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties today welcomed the appointment of the Commission of Inquiry appointed yesterday by the Palaszczuk government into the systems and processes of Queensland’s government-run forensic laboratory.

QCCL President Michael Cope said the Council had expressed concerns about the lab’s apparent serious shortcomings some months ago following The Australian’s journalist Hedley Thomas’ ground breaking research along with forensic scientist Dr Kirsty Wright into serious problems exposed by both of them about a lack of confidence and the reliability of results coming out of the lab.

“Faulty science has been one of the leading causes of miscarriages of justice in Queensland and throughout Australia for decades going back to the infamous Lindy Chamberlain monumental forensic scientific failure in the 1980s,” Mr Cope said.

Mr Cope welcomed the appointment of Walter Sofronoff QC as the Royal Commissioner noting that his high standing in the Queensland and Australian legal community would give hope that the Queensland Premier’s promise of a full open and rigorous Commission of Inquiry would be realised under his leadership.

“While Queensland’s Central Coroner will conduct his own Inquiry into issues surrounding Shandee Blackburn’s killing and whether forensic science testing in that case was faulty or not the work of Hedley Thomas in exposing apparent systemic serious flaws in the Queensland government’s forensic lab processes is to be applauded,” Mr Cope said.

Mr Cope said it was critical that the promised Royal Commission conduct comprehensive public hearings as an Inquiry such as this largely conducted in private would not command the same public confidence as a fully open and public inquisition into the lab’s processes and apparent significant problems and shortcomings.