Nail clippings evidence 'lost', murder trial hears

Retired postmistress Una Crown was found dead at her home in Wisbech in 2013

Three pieces of evidence went missing in the years after an 86-year-old retired postmistress was found dead in the hallway of her bungalow, a murder trial has been told.

Widow Una Crown's body was found at her home in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, on 13 January 2013.

A lawyer told Cambridge Crown Court on Wednesday that between 2013 and 2024, three finger nail clippings - taken from Mrs Crown's body and kept in a sealed evidence bag - had gone missing.

David Newton, 70, who lived close to Mrs Crown at the time, was charged in 2024 and denies murder.

David Newton has denied murdering Una Crown during a trial at Cambridge Crown Court

Prosecutor John Price KC in 2013 five pieces of nail had been taken from Mrs Crown's left hand, but in 2024 there were "only two".

Forensic scientist Clare Jarman, who tested clippings prior to Mr Newton's arrest in 2024, said it was not possible to be sure what had happened to the other three pieces.

The judge, Mr Justice Garnham, asked Ms Jarman: "Did two or three pieces of nail blow away?"

Forensic scientist Clare Jarman told the court it was "not possible to robustly say what happened to these nail clippings"

Ms Jarman told how the clippings had been placed in a sealed bag.

"It is not possible to robustly say what happened to these nail clippings," Ms Jarman told jurors.

"In my opinion, the time when clippings were lost was while the bag was open in the laboratory."

She added: "I do believe they were lost at some point when the bag was open."

Una Crown's body was found in the hallway of her bungalow in Wisbech in 2013

Jurors have been told that only Mrs Crown's DNA was found on the nail clippings when a forensic scientist tested them in 2013.

A second forensic scientist, Rachel Pollard, examined the clippings in late 2022 - and a DNA test that was not available in 2013 was carried out.

The scientist told how the later test also showed "very strong support" for a DNA match to Mr Newton.

Miss Jarman said: "If we accept that this DNA belonged to Mr Newton, the findings provide very strong evidence for deposition on the day of Mrs Crown's death, rather than on the days or weeks before."

Henry Grunwald KC, who is leading Mr Newton's legal team, said Mr Newton did not accept that he "came into contact" with Mrs Crown on the day she died or in the days leading to her death.

Police and firefighters found evidence that fires had been started in Mrs Crown's bungalow in Magazine Lane, Wisbech, on the day she died.

Prosecutors allege Mr Newton, of Magazine Close, Wisbech, started them after murdering Mrs Crown.

An acting police sergeant who initially investigated believed Mrs Crown had died accidentally, jurors have heard.

But a post-mortem examination two days later showed she had been stabbed and her throat cut.