Leech a world-first in robbery conviction

Asia-Pacific News

Oct 20, 2009, 1:46 GMT

Sydney - Blood taken from a leech at the scene of an armed robbery eight years ago at an isolated farmhouse was used to convict a Tasmanian man in what Australian police said was a world-first for forensic evidence, news reports said Tuesday. Peter Cannon pleaded guilty after the Launceston court was told the chances of the blood sample not being his was were one in 100 million. The crime scene blood sample was stored after police found no match from the 71-year-old victim or from anyone who could have been in the house around the time of the holdup. After Cannon was charged with drug offences last year, police took his DNA sample, which was matched in a computer database to the blood taken from the leech. 'It's the oddest way of convicting anyone I've ever been involved in,' Detective Inspector Mick Johnston told the Hobart Mercury newspaper. 'I've not been able to find any similar cases anywhere in the world.'

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