Investigation finds thousands of criminal cases dropped due to lost or missing evidence, including in Northants
Here’s our regular Friday brief
Criminal cases in Northamptonshire have had to be dropped due to lost or missing evidence, an investigation has found.
The investigation by the BBC Shared data unit, found that between October 2022 and September 2024, Northants Police had handed 11,746 cases over to the CPS and 190 defendants had their cases dropped due to lost or missing evidence (this is 1.6 per cent).
These cases are classed as E72 (the code filled in on the internal form). Northants is not one of the worst performing forces, with neighbouring Leicestershire the worst performing force outside of London.
The figures have been revealed as part of a nationwide investigation of all UK police forces, which has found that in the last four years 30,000 cases, including some of the most serious offences have been dropped due to lost or missing evidence issues.
The data was revealed by the BBC inputting a freedom of information request to the CPS, which asked for details of any cases that did not proceed because key evidence was not available or missing. When this is the fault of the police force, it is recorded as an “E72” in CPS data.
An E72 can comprise of a number of scenarios, such as: Physical evidence - including forensic evidence - being lost, damaged or contaminated during the storage phase; digital evidence, such as victim interview footage or body camera footage, being lost during the storage phase; Witness statements or pathology reports not being made available by police; Key evidence not gathered from the crime scene.
A spokesperson for Northants Police said:
“Northamptonshire Police has robust policies and procedures in place when it comes to gathering and storing evidence, and we work closely with the CPS to ensure that this evidence is presented in a timely manner when the case is being prepared for court.
“The E72 category in this investigation refers to evidence that is either missing or unavailable when a defendant is going to trial following being charged.
“For example, in a recent case filed under the E72 category, the complainant in a sexual offences case did not want to attend court, resulting in the case being filed under E72 because without the key evidence (the complainant), there was no realistic prospect of conviction. This is very different to evidence being physically “lost”.
“If evidential issues do occur in a case, the CPS will raise this with us for any action deemed necessary and we will work together to ensure these are resolved wherever possible.”
In Northants one of the dropped cases was a murder and four others were sexual offences. However the BBC data did not provide any further details on the case and Northants Police says it is not aware of a murder case that has been dropped during the time frame due to lost or missing evidence.
Experts told the Shared Data Unit the increasing proportion of cases collapsing due to missing evidence was due to: the closure of the nationnwider Forensice Science Service in 2012; a lack of scrutiny over evidence retention; the growth in digital evidence and increasing demands on storage space; a wave of new recruits and resourcing issues.
Professor Carole McCartney, a criminology lecturer at the University of Leicester, is an expert on evidence retention and author of ‘You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it's gone’: Police retention of investigative materials.
She said that, although funding for police forces has increased in recent years, many were still reporting large budget deficits.
She said:
“All this is a resourcing issue.
“Just look at gun stores - you wouldn't believe the amount of guns the police are storing, never mind all the other weapons.
“I've been in warehouses full of motorbikes, scaffolding poles, and things that are seized and have to be retained. I've seen a four-poster bed in a storage place.
“It's just mind-boggling what the police have to store. This all takes a lot of organisation, a lot of money, a lot of resourcing and an awful lot of technology to keep track of all of this.“But it doesn't attract any particular attention or resourcing.”
News in brief
West Northamptonshire Council’s new cabinet walked out of its first ever public meeting this week after climate protestors interrupted proceedings.
Campaigners from 1,000 Voices filled the public gallery at the administration’s first meeting at One Angel Square in Northampton and Tuesday and a number of campaigners who had registered to speak said the council was not doing enough to protect communities from the effects of climate change, taking particular issue with Reform’s stance on net zero and climate issues. The authority briefly paused the meeting and left the room after the public speakers did not end their speeches and return to their seats when asked.
One of the 1,000 Voices campaigners, Tina Matthew, told the new cabinet members during her speech:
“We’ve been told that Reform’s national leader has told you not to have any interest in undertaking equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging and climate change training.
“You are being directed to not care about the very things central to the lives of your children. The climate crisis is real, it’s human made and the evidence is unequivocal.
“Northamptonshire is affected by floods, failing crops and extreme weather events. Take positive action, stop denying or ignoring facts.”
Council leader Mark Arnull repeatedly asked Ms Matthew to stop speaking and return to her seat during her speech.
The 1,000 Voices campaign has been present at many council meetings held in the town centre in the past. Political events have included handing out fake death certificates of people they claimed would die because of poor air quality, staging a fake death during a speech to make a point about ‘toxic’ air, and playing loud music outside the council chamber to interrupt normal business.
Report by Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
A Northampton doctor who used controlled drugs on himself between procedures and worked under the influence will face a tribunal.
Dr Michael Goodwin was suspended from practice last July for 12 months over the misconduct which took place at Northampton General Hospital (NGH) between 2019 and 2021.
Dr Goodwin was working as a consultant anaesthetist when the incidents happened. He had been employed by the trust since 2002.
A report said that Dr Goodwin admitted the allegations against him that he removed a controlled drug from NGH and Three Shires Hospital and inappropriately self-administered it between and during procedures. He also admitted to entering false information onto the drugs register, which created inaccurate records of the amount of substance that was used.
The first tribunal heard that he had initially obtained the drug by taking away any leftovers from patients to use on himself, but later he requested more than was needed from the drugs cupboard for his own use. According to the report, he said in evidence that he would self-administer the drugs during breaks between procedures, and even recalled leaving a patient who was under anaesthesia with an operating department practitioner so he could self-administer the drugs.
The report added:
“Dr Goodwin stated that his past behaviour was, on reflection, deplorable and highly regretful. He acknowledged that his actions clearly had the potential to put patients at risk.”
The new tribunal will take place on June 25, a year on from his suspension. A panel is expected to review Dr Goodwin’s fitness to practise in the UK following his misconduct case.
The tribunal’s determination stated that the onus will be on Dr Goodwin to demonstrate how he has further developed his insight and remediated his dishonest misconduct.
Report by Nadia Lincoln
The Greyfriars regeneration deal between West Northamptonshire Council and a public/private partnership organisation has been signed.
In the first big move of their administration, the Reform UK administration has signed off the deal which will develop 25 acres of the Northampton town centre site. A council media release has said the scheme will create 7,000 jobs and boost local spending by £21m each year, however the details of how the scheme will be paid for and how much it will cost local taxpayers, have not been public. The deal has been signed before the anticipated DOGE team arrives at WNC, so has not had much scrutiny from Reform.
English Cities Fund is a collective of insurance firm Legal and General, government owned Homes England and Muse, which is owned by builder Morgan Sindall. It is behind similar schemes in Wolverhampton, Bradford and Plymouth.
The next stage is to create a masterplan proposal.
The Kettering Green Party is calling on the town’s residents living opposite the North Northants Council offices on Bowling Green Road, to put up a diversity or national flag in response to the Reform Council’s new flag ban.
Both North and West unitaries have changed the flag protocol since gaining office and now only the Union Jack and county flag will be flown. The new policy has angered many residents who say communities should be recognised and have accused the new councils of following policy dictated by the national party.
Whilst I agree that green issues are important and the public have a right to raise them at council meetings, disrupting meetings might affect other community issues by delaying council decisions.
Sadly corruption is involved to reduce work , hit targets and hide failings by too many people employed in the legal system. Malfeasance and misconduct in public office is very simple run of the mill .