Northamptonshire Police 'disappointed' by legal ruling on DNA in murder case
Northamptonshire Police has expressed disappointment after a murder trial was cut short when a judge ruled DNA evidence found on a window frame seal was “plainly insufficient” to prove the Crown’s case.
Cameron St Rose, 27, was also found not guilty of burglary after a jury heard 74-year-old scrap dealer David Brickwood was killed in a “torture beating” by intruders hunting for cash at his Northampton home in 2015.
A five-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court was told a “one in a billion” DNA match with St Rose could have been the result of his presence at the scene, or of secondary transfer such as someone else using a glove he had previously worn.
After granting an application that St Rose, of Forest Gate in East London, had no case to answer, trial judge Mr Justice Pepperall instructed jurors to return not guilty verdicts on counts of murder and burglary.
Prosecutors had claimed St Rose was among a group of offenders who fled empty-handed despite Mr Brickwood having £60,000 in cash at various locations inside his property.
The trial was played a 999 call made by the scrap dealer pleading for help shortly after he suffered stab wounds in the early hours of September 26, 2015, at his home in Lindsay Avenue, Abington.
Mr Brickwood, a father-of-three and grandfather, died after going into cardiac arrest, despite the efforts of paramedics and a police constable who climbed through a bay window to administer first aid.
After directing the jury panel to acquit St Rose on Wednesday, the judge told them: “You can only convict where there is sufficient evidence.
“‘Might-bes’ are not good enough. That is the reason for the decision I have reached.”
In his judgment explaining the reasons for ruling St Rose had no case to answer, Mr Justice Pepperall said the prosecution had relied on DNA evidence found in two areas of the crime scene.
A major component of a mixed DNA profile found on a rubber window gasket – exposed by a window pane being removed – matched the DNA profile of St Rose, the judge said.
But the judge added: “The agreed scientific position is that it cannot even be said that it is more likely that such DNA was deposited directly by Mr St Rose in the course of committing these
offences rather than by secondary transfer. Such evidence is plainly insufficient safely to be left to the jury. Probability is an insufficient basis for proof of a criminal charge. Indeed, in this case the position is even weaker. The experts cannot even say that primary transfer is more likely than secondary transfer.”
A spokeswoman for Northamptonshire Police said in a statement that the force was disappointed the decision had been made not to progress to the conclusion of the trial.
“As ever, our thoughts are with the family and friends of Mr Brickwood. We share their frustration that no one has yet been brought to justice following his death,” she said.
