Family court DNA tests unreliable says judge

[TonyGosling]

DNA paternity and maternity tests cannot be relied on, says top judge

A senior judge has cast serious doubt over the reliability of DNA paternity and maternity tests used by closed Family Courts.
He also identified problems with key evidence in more than 120 hearings in the courts, raising fears that children may have been wrongly removed from their parents.
The public and Press are normally banned from proceedings in the Family Court, with parents gagged from talking about its findings even if they believe they are the victims of a miscarriage of justice.
But Deputy High Court Judge Anthony Hayden QC took the unusual step of publishing a judgment after a series of errors came to light in one case of abused children.
Only five laboratories are Government-certified for court work. But a loophole allows lawyers to hire uncertified scientists unless a judge makes a specific order compelling them to use approved labs.
The problem was highlighted in a case before Judge Hayden in December - when lawyers hired Liverpool-based DNA Diagnostics. Despite regularly giving evidence, it is not Government-approved.
The case involved eight children - victims of physical, emotional and sexual abuse - who had been looked after by several adults in two households.
Their abuser had been identified and sentenced in a criminal court, and the Family Court had to decide if the children, who had been put into care, should be returned to their parents.
According to the judgment, the firm muddled samples of the DNA of the children and their parents - losing photographs required to confirm the chain of evidence - then tried to carry out new tests on the youngsters without permission from the judge.
Then a lawyer in the case said that "she had been in a case recently where an identical problem had arisen with this same firm", Judge Hayden said.
"On that occasion she had received a bouquet of flowers ... by way of apology.".....................
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