-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- http://www.smh.com.au/news/0004/06/pageone/pageone10.html A small town, a rapist at large ... 600 men called for DNA tests By LES KENNEDY, Chief Police Reporter Police will ask the entire male adult population of the north-western town of Wee Waa to undergo a voluntary DNA saliva test this weekend. The innocence of the 600 male adults in the town, population 1,900, will be put to the test in what police hope will solve the bashing and rape of a 93-year-old woman 16 months ago. The move - unprecedented in Australian criminal investigation - comes in the absence of legal powers that can compel those questioned by police about a crime to submit to a DNA blood test. It also coincides with growing debate within State Cabinet about the moral and civil liberties implications of a move by the Government to introduce legislation that would enable police to next year begin setting up Australia's first major DNA database to track criminals. Under the proposal, mooted by the Police Commissioner, Mr Peter Ryan, with the backing of the Minister for Police, Mr Whelan, samples from such a database would be compared to 15,000 stored DNA samples collected from unsolved crime scenes. However, under legislation proposed by the Premier, Mr Carr, police would only be able to take saliva samples from NSW prisoners convicted for crimes that carry a minimum sentence of five years' imprisonment. But in Sydney yesterday, the National Party MP for Barwon, Mr Ian Slack-Smith, whose electorate includes Wee Waa, said he would urge Coalition MPs to not only endorse the Government's DNA testing of jail inmates but to seek the widening of the legislation to include people convicted for petty offences. In Sydney yesterday, Mr Slack-Smith said: "There's not one man in Wee Waa who I've spoken to that is not willing to ... submit to a DNA test, and they come from all walks, from shopkeepers to the entire Wee Waa Panthers football team.". Mr Slack-Smith, who said he would be first in line to allow police to take a sample, said civil libertarians needed only to speak to the victim of the New Year's Day 1999 attack to see the justification for the exercise. "If they don't speak to her, then they should go and talk to any other victim of an unsolved rape and see what they think about police using DNA to catch their attacker," he said. Mr Slack-Smith said the assault, which took place in a home, was "absolutely horrendous". "Our elderly people have not gotten over it. Many are still spending each night sleeping at neighbours' homes because they are frightened it could happen again," he said. Up to 30 extra police, including seven detectives from the Sydney-based Homicide and Violent Serial Offenders Agency, have been drawn in for the tests, in which police will canvass every home in the town. Adult male householders will be asked if they were in Wee Waa on New Year's Eve 1998 and the new year morning and also asked if they are willing to submit to the saliva swab test. Mr Slack-Smith said the voluntary tests would not only clear participants, but could help police to establish once and for all if the rapist was a transient seasonal worker familiar with the cotton town. [ top ] Tuesday, 4 April, 2000, 12:24 GMT 13:24 UK Surnames found in DNA http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_701000/701286.stm English comedian Eric Sykes is one of the clan Your surname may well be written in your genes, a study has shown. This surprising discovery suggests that forensic evidence left at the scene of a crime could be read in a DNA laboratory and reveal the criminal's name. Professor Bryan Sykes, at the University of Oxford, started the research as "a bit of fun", but it is likely to have an impact in both forensic science and genealogy. Professor Sykes used samples from 61 volunteers who shared his surname to establish a link between the name and the distinctive DNA. He has found similar results for three other names, but thinks the link may not hold for the most common surnames like Jones and Smith. Fathering a dynasty The research makes the first direct link between genes and genealogy, showing that successive generations of a family can inherit unique sections of DNA. This strongly implies that people sharing a surname share a single male ancestor. Genealogists had long assumed that there would be several founders for every family name. "It puts every family on a par with the aristocracy, in being able to trace ourselves back to an original founder," said Professor Sykes. The name Sykes means a boundary stream and is a common landscape feature in Yorkshire, suggesting a number of people could have adopted it in the 13th and 14th centuries, when inherited surnames became common. History of infidelity It has been traditional in England for children to take their father's name and so Professor Sykes and colleague Catherine Irven looked at the Y chromosome, which fathers pass to sons but not daughters. They randomly chose 250 men with the name Sykes and asked for DNA samples: 61 replied with a swab from the inside of their cheek. Half of the group shared four unique sections of DNA which were not found in control subjects either in Yorkshire or other areas of the UK. The other half did not have the Sykes DNA, suggesting some infidelity in the Sykes dynasty. However, the estimated rate of infidelity over the 700 years the name has existed for is very low. If just 1.3% of the Sykes children in each generation were fathered by someone other than a Sykes, then the accumulation of "foreign" genes would mean that about half of today's Sykes would not have the unique DNA. This uncertainty means the DNA evidence of a name could not be used to convict criminals, but it could help to narrow down searches. It is also likely that families with the most common names, like Smith and Jones, do have multiple founders. The research is published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. Search BBC News Online http://www.xtra.co.nz/homepage/news/main/0,1081,News%3ANew+Zealand+News%3A17 0778,00.html? Fingerprint Option For Children 06:43AM Thu Apr 06 2000 NZST Parents in Whangarei are being offered the chance to have their children's fingerprints taken by police in case they go missing. Police say 340 people in Northland alone are reported missing each year and there are a small percentage who aren't found. It's hoped the fingerprints will be kept by parents and used in the unlikely event that the child is lost or abducted. Senior Constable Dai Harding says for families who are travelling overseas, the added information from the prints could be vital in such an investigation. The project is based on a similar initiative in Queensland. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Bulletin supplied by IRN Limited © 2000 IRN Limited. All copyright in this bulletin remains the property of IRN Limited. Terms and Conditions <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
