And Finally...Leech helps police to identify thief

By James Shepherd on Oct 22, 09 02:16 PM in News

Police in Australia have used blood from a leech to identify a criminal, in what is thought to be a world forensic first.

Eight years ago two men broke into a 71-year-old woman's home in Northern Tasmania.

They threatened her and stole around 300 dollars.

While the men didn't leave any fingerprints, they did leave other evidence of their presence.

Police found a leech at the crime scene and took a sample of the blood it had consumed for DNA profiling.

In 2008 Peter Cannon was charged over a drug offence and his DNA was found to match the sample. Canon has now admitted aggravated armed robbery.

This is believed to be the first time that the lowly leech has been used in the forensic fight against crime.

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