GUNSHOT RESIDUE UNRELIABLE

Gunshot residue found on the hand of a woman wrongly accused of a shooting came from the weapons of officers involved in her arrest. The gunshot traces are believed to have been transferred by police who had handled guns before arresting Bundaberg woman Debbie Drews for attempted murder in 2004. Lawyers say there should be an inquiry and doubt should be cast on every case involving gunshot residue found on suspects arrested by armed police. "This will throw grave doubt on all future cases . . . unless police procedures are addressed," said Ms Drews' solicitor, Andrew McGinness of Ryan & Bosscher. "If police are going to rely on gunshot residue they have to be very, very cautious as a result of this case."

A small amount of residue was found on the back of Ms Drews' right hand and on the steering wheel of her car after her arrest over the shooting of former lover Rodney Moore. Investigations later found that Moore had hired a gunman to fake an attempt on his life, and that Ms Drews was innocent. On the night she was arrested at her home armed police had not only handcuffed Ms Drews, but had also searched her car.

In August, Darling Downs man Moore, 46, pleaded guilty to perjury, fabricating evidence and other charges. He was jailed for eight years and will be eligible for parole in May 2008. [So he really got less than 2 years]

A Crown statement of facts tendered in court said: "It is believed that this residue had been transferred on to Ms Drews' hand by police officers who had handled weapons." Superintendent Paul Stewart, of the forensic science branch, said police were trained about gunshot residue cross-contamination. "There is always a potential for cross-contamination from . . . an environment where firearms are regularly carried and used for training purposes," he said. Supt Stewart said residue was easily transferred from hand to hand, but there was little police could do to prevent it. He said that if police who arrested Ms Drews had handled guns that had been fired and then held her hand, there was "a real possibility" residue could have been transferred.

Lawyer Chris Nyst said there was no doubt any jury that heard of the gunshot residue on Ms Drews' hand would have assumed she was guilty of the shooting. "Prosecutors and defence lawyers who scrutinise evidence have to be so very careful, particularly with forensic and scientific evidence," he said. Civil liberties lawyer Terry O'Gorman said there should be a police or Crime and Misconduct Commission inquiry to determine how the gunshot residue got on Ms Drews' hand

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Report below from the victim above:

Debbie Drews' living nightmare began two years ago when she awoke at 2am to find armed police surrounding her Bundaberg house. As an officer with a loudhailer called out: "Drews, Debbie Drews, it's the police here, come outside!" she stumbled out of her back door in her pyjamas. "Lights were blinding me but the police just called to me to get on the ground," Ms Drews said. "Then I was handcuffed for the first time in my life. I didn't understand what was happening to me. I guess I was in a state of shock."

Over the next few hours Ms Drews would be questioned about a shooting she knew nothing about and charged with an attempted murder she did not commit. She had been framed by her calculating ex-lover Rodney Moore, who a judge said wanted to pay her back for ending their relationship. Moore not only hired someone to shoot him but had planted evidence to convince police Ms Drews was trying to kill him. The elaborate plan even involved Moore planting .22 cartridges and a mobile phone SIM card that made it appear Ms Drews had called him to set up the "hit". It would be a year before the charges were dropped - and only after she had been committed for trial for attempted murder. "My whole life and world changed in a way that can never be undone," Ms Drews said in a court statement. "This traumatic experience will be with me for the rest of my life."

The night of her arrest Ms Drews, a Centrelink officer who was then 46, had spent a quiet evening at home chatting on the phone. But three hours after going to bed she was struggling to convince police she was innocent of attempted murder. "I felt frightened and shocked . . . I just believed that all I had to do was tell the police the truth and I would be going back home to bed," she said. Instead, an "emotionally destroyed" Ms Drews was photographed, fingerprinted, had DNA samples taken and spent the next few days locked in the watchhouse. To add to her humiliation she even had to appear in court in the pyjamas she had been wearing since her arrest. "No matter how often I told the truth, no one believed me," she said.

Moore, who had driven from his Darling Downs home to Bundaberg, told police he had been shot in the leg and shoulder by Ms Drews after she arranged a late-night meeting on a quiet road on the city's outskirts. Police found a spent .22 calibre cartridge and other bullets in Ms Drews' car, and gunshot residue on the steering wheel and on her right hand. Many months later police would discover that early on April 16, 2004 - the day of the shooting - Moore had gone to Ms Drews' car, parked outside her workplace, and planted the cartridges. He also had driven to her home and planted the SIM card.

Ms Drews' solicitor, Andrew McGinness, subpoenaed crucial phone records that not only indicated that she was at home around the time of the shooting but also linked Moore to the real shooter.

Following the committal hearing, Bundaberg detectives made further investigations and after an anonymous tip, tracked down the gunman. He told them Moore had given him a sawn-off .22 rifle, telling him he wanted to "set a lady up" because she had dobbed him in for stealing. Part of the gunman's payment was to come from a compensation payout Moore intended to claim.

Sentencing Moore in August to eight years' jail for perjury, fabricating evidence and other offences, Justice Peter Dutney said the crime had been committed as retribution for Ms Drews ending their relationship.

In the year before the prosecution dropped the charges against her, Ms Drews lived in fear for her life, was shunned by some colleagues and was under threat of losing her job. "Living through it each day was like a nightmare that wouldn't end," she said. Emails were sent by her employer to every staff member, telling them of the charges. Her health suffered, she had to borrow $20,000 for a legal defence and in her "darkest moments" had even considered suicide. "I felt like I was in a dark hole that had no end," she said in a victim impact statement tendered in Rockhampton Supreme Court after Moore pleaded guilty.

The nightmare has not ended - she still has to admit to having been charged when filling out business and government forms. "This charge won't ever go away and yet I was totally innocent," she said.

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