The controversial method used to establish a DNA profile of murder victim Vicky Hamilton should not become widespread practice, both police and campaigners said yesterday.
The controversial method used to establish a DNA profile of murder victim Vicky Hamilton should not become widespread practice, both police and campaigners said yesterday.
It emerged during the trial of Peter Tobin, sentenced on Tuesday to 30 years in jail for the teenager's abduction and murder in 1991, that Vicky's DNA profile was taken from her Guthrie Test - a series of blood drops extracted at birth to detect childhood illnesses.
It is believed that it is the first time in Scotland that such a move has been made to aid a criminal investigation and secure a conviction and it was the DNA profile secured from Vicky's Guthrie Test which allowed forensic experts to match it to genetic material found on a knife hidden in Tobin's loft in Bathgate.
But sensitivities lie around the archive of blood samples being used as a form of DNA database with pressure group GeneWatch UK saying yesterday that "serious infringement of privacy" could emerge if the practice became common.
Keith Anderson, the retired detective chief inspector who ran Operation Mahogany, the Vicky Hamilton murder inquiry launched in 2006, said yesterday that the "unique" circumstances surrounding the case justified the genetic material being accessed.
But he added that the archive could not turn into an "unofficial database" of DNA samples.
Mr Anderson, 51, said: "What we did was fair and above board, but you have got to be very careful. We can't be seen to be using it as an unoffical database.
"It was only because of the seriousness of the case that we went down this route and it wasn't for the identification of a suspect. This was a unique case and it massively helped to carry our investigation forward.
"It was the most important initial exercise that we carried out. There were 12 unidentified bodies or body parts in Britain in 2006 and the only way you could identify them was by comparing their DNA profile.
"It was imperative that we got Vicky's DNA to carry that out. I also had to make sure that Vicky's DNA had not been put on the national database under any other name."
Permission to access the records was given by NHS Scotland and Vicky Hamilton's test card was found at Yorkhill Children's Hospital in Glasgow, where individual health boards send their records to archive. Not all health boards hold on to the blood samples.
Vicky Hamilton's family were told by police that they had sourced her Guthrie Test and wanted to use it to build a DNA profile, to which they agreed. "We had Vicky's hairbrush and her school jotters but because of the passage of time we were unable to get a sample. This really was the last resort for us," Mr Anderson said.
As well as giving police the breakthrough DNA match on the knife, it was also used to confirm that the two body parts - the torso and the lower limbs - found buried in the garden of Tobin's former home in Margate in November 2007 were both Vicky's.
Catherine Dyer of the Crown Office said that the use of Guthrie Tests was "not that common" but added that typical sources of DNA, such as a toothbrush or a drinks glass, were not open to them at the time of Vicky's disappearance.
Dr Helen Wallace of GeneWatch UK said last night: "It is not necessary that there is a problem in this specific case, where the police needed to do what they did, but our concern is that Guthrie cards might become more widely used."
