Shandee's Story

A man who was acquitted for rape is facing another trial as prosecutors seek leave to invoke Queensland’s new double jeopardy laws, in a huge development arising from The Australian’s podcast Shandee’s Story. This is “the tip of the iceberg”, says our national chief correspondent Hedley Thomas, who’s here today.  Read more about this story at theaustralian.com.au and see the video by subscribing to our YouTube channel. Shandee’s Story: Double jeopardy test of rape acquittal after forensic DNA do-over Shandee Blackburn murder: DNA retesting on hold in Mackay cold case Queensland DNA lab accused of hiding evidence flaws from courts DNA test delays push Qld crime victims to breaking point This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet and edited by Lia Tsamoglou. Our team includes Tiffany Dimmack, Joshua Burton and Jasper Leak, who also composed our music. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Queensland government will reopen an inquiry into its troubled DNA lab after new evidence of flawed automated testing processes emerged. Find out more about The Front podcast here and subscribe in your podcast app. You can read about this story and more on The Australian's website or on The Australian’s app.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Kirsty Wright is the remarkable scientist who exposed the worst forensics disaster in Australia’s history, and now she’s identified the ‘smoking gun’ in the Queensland DNA lab disaster. It’s a catastrophe called ‘Project 13’ which has been hiding in plain view -- but Dr Wright is certain that it was deceptive and fraudulent, and it explains why Shandee’s case in 2013 and thousands of others since 2007 have failed. For dedicated followers of this series, the Project 13 report can be found on the inquiry’s website under module four. It’s document number 129.95, and you can compare for yourself the opening paragraph against the figures 9 to 12. To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the inquiry, search Shandee's Story or visit shandee.com.au. For daily updates, subscribe to The Front in your podcast app.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will anyone face criminal charges for the disaster at the laboratory? We examine more of Walter Sofronoff’s findings about how this catastrophe unfolded, delve deeper into Cathie Allen’s conduct, and meet a lady who -- when the laboratory couldn’t make sense of DNA results -- was told her own son must have been switched at birth. The Queensland Government moves swiftly to respond to the report, and we cast forward to the laboratory’s future. To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the inquiry, search Shandee's Story or visit shandee.com.au. For daily updates, subscribe to The Front in your podcast app. If you need support, Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the final week of public hearings in the explosive inquiry into a broken DNA lab and we’re all here because of one person -- Shandee Blackburn. The vicious and unprovoked murder of the defenceless 23-year-old walking home from work is front-and-centre as three independent experts give their verdict on the lab’s failure to find any forensic trace of her killer. It’s been a long and, at times, lonely road for Australia’s Dr Kirsty Wright, but now she gets her day in court alongside the world’s most renowned forensic biologist, Dr Bruce Budowle, and New Zealand’s Johanna Veth, revealing shocking new findings. To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the inquiry, search Shandee's Story or visit shandee.com.au. For daily updates, subscribe to The Front in your podcast app.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The big guns from the DNA lab - Lara Keller, Justin Howes and Cathie Allen - are rolled into the formal inquiry and subjected to withering questioning by a lawyer on top of his game over alleged cover-up, lies to police, and scientific fraud. The three insist they've been honest at all times, just guilty of misunderstanding the details or being overwhelmed by work and led into human error. The inquiry's lead lawyer Michael Hodge was relentless as he applied a blowtorch to a very broken lab affecting thousands of victims of crime. To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the inquiry, search Shandee's Story or visit shandee.com.au. For daily updates, subscribe to The Front in your podcast app.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Humiliated. Belittled. Embarrassed. Toxic behaviour by the lab's managers leads to an epic spray from a reporting scientist in this week's episode. Ingrid Moeller used her time in the witness box to unleash on less-than-stellar management of the state-run lab at the centre of the Commission of Inquiry. Plus, we hear from her colleagues, who tried time and again to raise the alarm about toxic culture and controversial lab practices. We also grapple with the magnitude of the lab's extraordinary backflips on statements provided to Queensland Police, with potentially thousands of cases thrown into doubt as a result. Join The Australian’s National Chief Correspondent, Hedley Thomas, and his colleagues Claire Harvey, David Murray, and Matthew Condon, as they discuss the third week of the Sofronoff inquiry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following the shocking revelations of bungling, secrecy and misconduct within Queensland’s DNA lab exposed in journalist Hedley Thomas’ podcast Shandee’s Story, a major royal commission-style inquiry into the fiasco gets underway in a Brisbane court, headed by retired judge Walter Sofronoff KC. The hearings are immediately rocked by allegations of disharmony and distrust amongst laboratory staff, sound scientific advice being ignored by senior bureaucrats, and warnings that the lab’s prohibitively high DNA testing thresholds were unsafe also being dismissed. Senior police take the stand at the inquiry, saying they went along with the DNA lab’s new testing model because they trusted Queensland Health experts, only to become suspicious, then alarmed – courtesy of DNA expert Kirsty Wright’s damning assessment of the lab’s failings in Shandee’s Story – that offenders may have literally gotten away with murder for years. But DNA lab staff say the police signed off on the controversial testing decision and fully understood its implications. By the end of the inquiry’s first week it’s already clear that Queensland is in the midst of the greatest health and criminal justice crisis in its history. Join The Australian’s chief national correspondent, Hedley Thomas, and his colleagues Claire Harvey, David Murray and Matthew Condon, in a comprehensive analysis of the opening week of the Sofronoff inquiry. To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the inquiry, search "Shandee's Story" or visit shandee.com.au. For daily updates, subscribe to The Front in your podcast app.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.