Cat DNA database to be used for solving crime

The UK's first database of cat DNA is to be published and enhanced so it can be used in future crime investigations.

The database was created by the University of Leicester for a police investigation into the death of a Hampshire man.

Cat hairs were found on a curtain wrapped around the dismembered torso of David Guy on Southsea beach last July.

The DNA database helped convict the cat's owner, David Hilder, of manslaughter last month.

It was the first time cat DNA had been used in a criminal trial in the UK, having previously been used in the US and Canada.