Silencer/Paint/blood evidence is fundamentally flawed
The Crowns case can no longer justify relying upon the evidence of the silencer/paint/blood, to sustain these convictions, for the following reasons:-
Scratch marks on aga, and paint ingrained onto/into end of silencer
The aga at the scene was deliberately scratched on an occasion after the shootings, at a time when there must have been transference of red paint from the aga onto the silencer, as evidenced by a reliance on crime scene photographs taken on 7th August 1985, and other dates in September 1985, showing that additional marks have been made. By the time the silencer fell to be examined, and by the time red [paint was identified as being present upon the silencers end cap (25th September 1985) it was not possible to establish that any paint which was present upon the silencer had got there before or during the shootings, or afterwards, since there were by that stage three areas upon the saga where scratch marks existed, two of which were not marked on the morning of the shootings...
How was it possible, therefore, to say with a degree of certainty that the paint which was present on the end of the silencer (as of 25th September 1985, when the silencer was examined at the lab), came from any area, other than either of the two areas upon the aga surround where marks had been made and added later on?
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Sheila Caffells blood Group activity (A, EAP BA, AK1 and HP 2-1) obtained from flake
Sheila Caffells blood was obtained from the examination of a small flake of dried blood said to have been found inside a silencer which had been sent to the lab', on 30th August 1985. It was supposedly found by the ballistic expert, Malcolm Fletcher, when he dismantled the silencer. He handed the flake to the blood expert, John Hayward, who proceeded over a number of days between 12th and 19th September 1985, to examine and analyse the blood for blood group activity. This examination produced the blood groups, A, EAP BA, AK1 and HP 2-1, which was all finalized by 19th September 1985. By this stage, the silencer found by the relatives had not yet even been sent to the lab', and would not be sent there until the following day (20th September 1985). This silencer was not therefore the silencer inside which was found the crucial flake of blood which produced the blood group activity (A, EAP BA, AK1 and HP 2-1) of Sheila Caffell...
Furthermore, once the silencer which had been found by the relatives at the scene on 11th September 1985, was received at the lab', it was examined on 25th September 1985, and no blood at all was found inside it, only paint ingrained into or upon its end cap...
Conclusions
(1) Paint on silencer from scratch marks on aga, got there on an occasion long after the date of the shootings, but was wrongly attributed as having got there at the time of the shootings...
(2) Blood belonging to Sheila Caffell, was obtained from somewhere else, other than it having been found inside the silencer which the relatives found at the scene on 11th September 1985...
Lets get things into perspective, so that there can be no room at all for any doubt - David Boutflour did not contact Essex police about finding a silencer inside the gun cupboard at whf until 11th September 1985, as evidenced by police records giving details of phone messages received in connection with the case:-