Satish Sekar contacted me in 1995. I had reservations as to his intentions because he is an investigative journalist. However, since then I grew to admire his never ending persistence and confidence in investigating my daughter’s murder as though it had become personal to him and I’m sure at times it had. He never ceased to amaze me with the many discrepancies which had come to light during his investigation.
How can you excuse a police force for overlooking discrepancies at the initial investigation of such a violent and horrific murder? After reading through evidence of DNA testing and results I came to the conclusion that those found guilty were, in fact, innocent. I believe that forensic evidence most certainly pointed to someone else, who had been questioned about my daughter’s murder at the time. However, in 1995 the case was re-opened and further DNA testing was carried out by the police which has taken a further two years to complete and has used up most of the DNA. Consequently, it is unlikely that there is enough DNA left to give conclusive evidence or identification to get the real murderer convicted.
Had the police carried out the most sensitive method of amplifying DNA as soon as the inquiry was re-opened, then I feel sure that the person responsible would not be free today. The police could have handled this appalling case and scene of crime samples containing precious DNA with a lot more care and consideration.
Mr Sekar had informed me of a forensic expert, Professor [Bernd] Brinkmann in Germany, who is apparently more advanced in the field of forensic science than our own experts. I asked the police for the samples to be sent to Germany. The police were very reluctant to let this happen, even though I offered to pay for such tests. The police suggested that they would consider my concerns after they had finished with their tests and then only if they had no results. They also said, “We will leave no stone unturned.”
The police have completed one round of testing which yielded nothing. Can we now assume they will unturn the stone? I have waited patiently for two years for these tests to be completed, subconsciously suspecting that there would be no further results due to the type of tests they were doing. Whilst I respect what our forensic experts have done, the police should now take advantage of Professor Brinkmann’s offer to test what’s left of the samples.
In conclusion, if ever there was a case which demanded a judicial review to resolve the many causes for concern in the whole case, surely this was it. Knowing what I now know I have come to the conclusion that only a fully independent inquiry conducted by an extern real police force can answer the many questions that remain unanswered. The interests of justice and the memory of my daughter deserve nothing less.
I am very grateful to Mr Sekar for bringing to my attention all the flaws in this case. I thank him for thoroughly investigating the flaws within South Wales Police’s investigation. He deserves to be recognised as a very successful investigative journalist and I wish him good luck in his career.