Text of letter to Professor Caddy 2007

From Professor Jamieson to Professor Caddy

Name and address deleted

15 th November 2007

Dear Brian,

Thank you for your letter of 29 th October (which I received only on Tuesday of this week) regarding my views on LCN analysis.

I am obviously pleased that there appears to be some interest in assessing this technology and its forensic application. It is not at all clear why this should be confidential or who is requesting the information. Perhaps you could advise me who has requested the review (and to what purpose), and the membership of the panel of experts mentioned in your letter.

You should also be aware that the FSS have placed extraordinary restrictions on us as regards sharing any information on these cases; a fact which alone should cause serious concern among scientists.

In the meantime, there are some publicly available sources which contain the body of the issues that I raise. For example, they are contained within the transcripts of the trial of Mr Hoey to which you allude and which should be accessible to your review; you may also care to consider Dr Whitaker’s claims on the reliability of the results of the technique in that case.

Of course, I am not alone in my views and there is much information from across the world expressing similar cautions to the specific technique of 34-cycle SGM+ amplification.

Regards

Professor Allan Jamieson

Director