Latest news with #forensicpathology
ABC News
29-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Forensic pathologist shortage delays justice in NSW
A shortage of forensic pathologists in New South Wales is delaying some court cases by up to 18 months, with concerns the situation has the potential to impact witness evidence and further stress the families of victims. It is difficult to confirm the extent of the issue, but the ABC is aware of at least three murder trials delayed by the slow delivery of forensic pathology reports. Law Society of NSW president Jennifer Ball said any delay in criminal proceedings was stressful for all involved, particularly when the alleged offence involved homicide. "Delays in these cases bring additional stress to victims' families and friends, and can potentially affect the quality of witnesses' evidence," she said. Lismore solicitor Jim Fuggle said the "blowout" increased the cost of justice. He said it also hindered the process of certifying charges in the legislated six-month timeframe and potentially extended the time an accused person remained in custody on remand. "You can imagine, from all sides of proceedings, it affects people," Mr Fuggle said. "Sometimes there is conflict within a community over incidents and [delays] don't help resolve that in any way, shape or form. In Lismore Local Court, Magistrate Michael Dakin recently noted the "significant delays" in the matter of Dwayne John Creighton, accused of killing Sarah Miles at Casino in June 2024. Mr Creighton's case has been mentioned at least eight times since he was first arrested in the days after her death, and he remains in custody with a murder charge only certified this week. The court recently heard the pathologist had completed the toxicology report, but further testing related to the cause of death was required. The case against Alexander Repin, accused of murdering an elderly home owner at Lismore in 2023, also came to a standstill last year. In October, the prosecutor said the matter was ready to proceed but could go no further as a forensic pathology report remained outstanding, despite two formal requests from police and the prosecution. Mr Repin is yet to enter a plea to murder and being armed with intent to commit an indictable offence. The same issue plagued the preliminary stages of the case against Robert Karl Huber, who is set to stand trial in June before the Supreme Court in Coffs Harbour. Mr Huber is accused of killing Lindy Lucena in a laneway in Ballina in January 2023. Without a forensic pathology report, the charges against Mr Huber were unable to be certified and Ballina Local Court Magistrate Karen Stafford was forced to adjourn the matter on at least two separate occasions. After the second adjournment, Ms Lucena's sister Julie Viney, who has since died, said delays in the court process had left the family in limbo. "I don't know what information they want from this but I can't believe there isn't a pathologist that can do this specific test," Ms Vine told the ABC at the time. Mr Huber eventually pleaded not guilty to murder, more than 21 months after Ms Lucena's death. In another case, mother of two Jamikka Binge-Olive died in 2023, five weeks after she was assaulted in the bathrooms of a licensed venue at Casino in northern NSW. In the months after her death, her family told the ABC they had been advised to expect a 12-month wait for an autopsy report. A coronial inquest into her death is now set to be held in November. New South Wales Courts and Tribunals said it did not gather data on how many cases were adjourned awaiting a pathology report, and it was not aware of any other agency gathering the information. New South Wales Health Pathology said there was a national and international shortage of specialist forensic pathologists, and it was short-staffed as a result. "NSW Health Pathology continues to make every effort to recruit forensic pathologists to fill vacancies, as well as train new forensic pathologists," a spokesperson said. The spokesperson said NSW Health Pathology worked at the direction of the NSW Coroner, with around 8,000 unexplained or unexpected deaths referred to the coroner a year. They said time frames for reports were affected by factors including staffing, case complexity and ancillary testing requirements.
News.com.au
26-05-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
Forensic pathologist makes claim about Ned Kelly tattoos
A forensic pathologist has shared the bizarre trend he has noticed about those who have a popular Australian tattoo. Roger Byard, an Emeritus Professor at The University of Adelaide who is nicknamed Dr Death by his colleagues, specialises in the study of death and injuries. His profession not only helps solve crimes, but can also help prevent future deaths in cases such as the research his autopsies provided on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome to help lower early childhood deaths. Recently, Mr Byard appeared on I Catch Killers with Gary Jubelin, where he revealed an anecdotal trend about a tattoo he has noticed during his 30 year career. After getting involved with Foxtel series Lawless, which looked at figures such as Ned Kelly and the Kenneth Brothers, Mr Byard said he kept looking into Bushrangers. 'We were basically trying to see what evidence there was for the historical stories. You look at Ben Hall — the popular theory is that police snuck up on him and shot him in his swag,' Mr Byard said on the podcast. 'The police version is a bit different.' It led him to notice, anecdotally, a piece of information about people who had ink of Australia's most well known bushranger Ned Kelly, who was executed for killing Constable Thomas Lonigan in 1880. 'I just noticed that a lot of the people coming into the mortuary with Ned Kelly tattoos had died violent deaths,' he said. I did a retrospective study and then I did a 10-year prospective study. Sure enough like 80 per cent of them had died of accidents or suicides or homicides. All sorts of strange things.' Mr Byard clarified that this was in a forensic context and just because you had a tattoo of Ned Kelly it didn't mean you were 'marked' for a violent death. He said he thought it was because the tattoo was a mark of 'drug associated' lifestyles or other forms of risk taking. Social media users claimed the tattoo represented a certain kind of lifestyle. 'I think it's also the demographic within society that idolises Ned is mostly those who live reckless and/or dangerous lives,' one said. Another said: 'Wow that feels energetic. They say tattooing names on you also transfers a similar energy.' It's not the first time Mr Byard has discussed this topic, in 2023 he and Hamish Maxwell-Stewart had a paper published in Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology journal. The paper explained that the tattoos often depicted Kelly in his armour or his alleged last words 'Such is life'. Their study ran from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2020, at Forensic Science South Australia. Over this period, 38 people ended up in the morgue with Ned Kelly inspired tattoos. Ten of these were natural deaths, while 15 were suicide, nine were accidents and four were homicides.
Fox News
16-05-2025
- Fox News
Karen Read trial enters crucial phase with new witness after medical examiner's key testimony
incoming update… A medical examiner testified she could identify John O'Keefe's cause of death as a head injury and hypothermia but could not determine whether it was homicide, accidental or any other manner Thursday during the murder trial of Karen Read in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, a 46-year-old Boston police officer. Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello, a forensic pathologist with Massachusetts' Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, performed the autopsy on O'Keefe Jan. 31, 2022. While Scordi-Bello found that O'Keefe had died from head trauma and hypothermia, the manner of death — how he suffered those injuries — was undetermined The blunt impact to his head was the primary cause of death, she testified, but hypothermia contributed. He had a deep cut and bruising to the back of his head. Once she looked at it from the inside, she found multiple skull fractures and brain bleeding. And his body temperature when he arrived at the hospital was 80.1 degrees compared to a normal body temperature of 98.6. She discussed the external examination first, saying she found similar injuries to his face, head, hand, arm and knee that other witnesses, including paramedics and police, have already described to the jury. He had "superficial" scrapes and cuts on his arm, which did not penetrate the skin or expose fat or muscle tissue, she testified. Read the full story here. Testimony in Karen Read's trial is set to resume Friday as the state is expected to call its next witness. On Thursday, jurors heard from Massachusetts State Police forensic scientist Maureen Hartnett and medical examiner Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello as special prosecutor Hank Brennan continues to build the state's case against Read. Read is facing the possibility of life in prison for the alleged murder of Boston police officer John O'Keefe. The prosecution claims Read struck O'Keefe with her Lexus SUV during a drunken argument outside of 34 Fairview Road, leaving him to freeze to death in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2022. However, Read's defense team is maintaining her innocence, telling the jury she never hit O'Keefe with her vehicle. Live Coverage begins here
