Crime fear over £11.6m cut from police forensic budgets

Police in northern England have slashed forensic budgets by millions sparking fears criminal trials could collapse.

A Sunday Post probe can today reveal more than £11.6 million of cutbacks to services such as DNA profiling and fingerprinting.

Last night, experts warned of possible miscarriages of justice as police save money by carrying out more work within their own laboratories.

A former police chief told the Sunday Post: “This could mean dangerous criminals walking free because of a lack of quality forensic evidence. I’d be amazed if it hasn’t already happened.”

A National Audit Office report criticised the Home Office for failing to keep tabs on developments in forensics following the closure of the publicly-funded Forensic Science Service in 2012.

The report said the size of the forensics market had shrunk by more than £20 million in the past two years though it did say there was “limited data” available on total forensics spending.

However, The Sunday Post can today reveal that police forces in the north of England slashed a total of £11,620,634 between 2010 and 2014.

Northumbria Police spent nearly £1.4 million less and Lancashire Constabulary nearly £2.3 million. Cumbria Police and Cleveland Police cut budgets by £346,000 and £458,579 respectively.

The deepest cuts were made by Greater Manchester Police where spending on forensics fell from £18.6 million to £13.8 million.

Only one of eight forces, Durham Constabulary, saw the amount rise by just £5,241 in the same period.

Police are also using their own laboratories instead of independent specialists for forensic services prompting concerns their findings may be biased. Many private firms were facing closure.

Forensics expert Professor Peter Gill said: “It is certainly not a good idea for forensic science to be solely in police hands.

“The scientist is working solely in a prosecution environment and independence may be compromised, which leads to biased reports, increasing risks of miscarriages of justice.”

A Home Office spokesman said the Government was working to make sure police have the “best possible” forensic services.

She said: “Police spending with private forensic suppliers has reduced for a number of reasons such as falling crime, lower costs due to improved processes and greater competition. It is for police and crime commissioners and chief constables to decide how to spend their budgets.