Sponsored by
Jury told probability of Molseed DNA match
A forensic scientist has told a jury how DNA analysis of samples taken from the underwear of murdered schoolgirl Lesley Molseed were linked to the man accused of killing her more than 30 years ago.
Dr Gemma Escott described to Bradford Crown Court how she examined samples recovered after the 11-year-old was found stabbed to death on moors in West Yorkshire in October 1975.
The court has heard how Lesley went missing from her home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, as she was running an errand for her mother.
Her body was found three days later on the West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester border, 30 to 40 yards away from the A672 Oldham to Ripponden road.
She had been stabbed 12 times during a "frenzied attack".
Dr Escott told the jury how she examined samples of semen taken from red pants Lesley was wearing. Although they were destroyed in 1985, adhesive tapes used to remove material from them were kept in storage.
Dr Escott said she extracted a DNA profile from this residue in 2000 as part of a cold case review of the murder.
She confirmed that she later found there was a direct match with another sample which was taken from Ronald Castree – the 54-year-old man who is on trial for Lesley's murder.
She said: "The probability of obtaining that profile if the semen did not originate from Ronald Castree is in the order of one in one billion."
The jury has already heard how an innocent man – tax clerk Stefan Kiszko – was wrongly convicted of Lesley's murder and spent 16 years in prison.
Dr Escott said she compared the DNA sample she obtained from the semen in Lesley's pants with a sample taken from Mr Kiszko. She told the jury: "There was no match and Stefan Kiszko could not have been the donor of the semen."
The scientist went on to tell the jury that she believed whoever left the semen had ejaculated onto the inside of the pants.
Castree, who sat in the dock wearing a suit and tie, denies murdering Lesley between October 4 and October 9, 1975.
The trial continues.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Three-inch blanket of snow heading our way today
- Alan Shearer in list of favourites for Leeds and England jobs: Latest odds
- Barnsley’s Keith Hill invokes Fawlty Towers over link with Leeds job
- McCormack feels United search can be narrowed down
- Redfearn throws down gauntlet as queue builds at Elland Road
- Rival chips in with £500,000 to restore the original Harry Ramsden’s
- Visit from Princess as Serbian culture celebrated
- SportsTalk: Leeds United’s manager search, Super League and Calcutta Cup
- Libraries aren’t like supermarkets, they are magical places where dreams begin
- Strategic review will lead to job losses at Yorkshire Bank
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
