Dog DNA Used To Convict Murderer

Thu, 18 March 2010 Courtesy of: Guardian

A 22-year-old man who repeatedly stabbed a teenage boy was today facing life in jail after the first case in which new dog DNA technology was used in a murder prosecution.

The victim, 16-year-old Seyi Ogunyemi, was stabbed to death in a prolonged attack by a gang of youths said to have acted like a "pack of wild animals" as they set upon him and his friends in Stockwell, south London.

The murder, by Chrisdian Johnson, 22, was described in court as unique because dangerous dogs were used as weapons to savage the victim before he was knifed.

“ dog DNA technique, which had recently been developed at the time of the murder, was a "hugely powerful investigative tool"”

One of the animals, called Tyson, brought down and mauled slightly-built Seyi as he attempted to escape from his pursuers over a fence.

The boy stood no chance once he was in the dog's ferocious grip, the Old Bailey was told, and was then stabbed six times by Johnson, its owner.

Johnson was arrested as he fled from the scene of the murder, which happened last April, bare-chested and covered in blood.

New technology, used for the first time, proved by a billion to one probability that some of the blood had come from his dog Tyson, which had been knifed during the melee.

The rest was shown to have come from the murder victim.

Police said the dog DNA technique, which had recently been developed at the time of the murder, was a "hugely powerful investigative tool".

Johnson, of south Lambeth, south London – who had been allowed to keep the dangerous dog only when a court imposed strict conditions on his ownership in late 2007 – was today found guilty of murder.

He was also convicted of the attempted murder of the victim's 17-year-old friend Hurui Hiyabu, who was said to have been lucky to survive after being knifed nine times.

Johnson's brother, Shane, 20, of the same address, was cleared of both charges.

A third defendant, 18-year-old Darcy Menezes, of Clapham, also in south London, was cleared earlier during the trial.

The court heard that his dog, a female adult brindle Staffordshire terrier called Mia, also took part in the attack, but a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to show he had been involved.

A decision on whether to destroy the dogs has not yet been made.

The convictions come shortly after the government announced new measures designed to tackle the problem of dogs being used as weapons.

Johnson was remanded in custody and will be sentenced tomorrow.