Brian Kelly

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Brian Kelly was convicted of the rape of a woman, who was raped while in her bed at home. Kelly was convicted largely on the basis of DNA evidence which was said to have established that his DNA was on the complainant’s dressing gown (although the victim knew Kelly and had not identified him). On appeal, expert evidence was introduced to show that American laboratories had become aware of a danger of cross-contamination of DNA evidence if there was not an empty well between samples. This meant there was a possibility of cross-contamination in Kelly’s case. The court noted that DNA evidence was crucially important for Kelly’s conviction and that if the jury had rejected it then the evidence would have been insufficient to convict the appellant. Accordingly, the conviction was quashed.

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