DNA clue ‘found on burnt matches’

13 March 2013 Last updated at 13:29 ET

DNA profiles uncovered on two burnt matches could have come from a man accused of murdering two soldiers, a court has heard.

Mark Quinsey, 23, from Birmingham, and Patrick Azimkar, 21, from London, were killed outside Massereene Barracks in 2009.

Brian Shivers denies the murders.

A senior forensic scientist said the likelihood of it having come from a person unrelated to Mr Shivers was "less than one in one billion".

Mr Shivers, from Sperrin Mews, in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, also denies the attempted murders of two other soldiers, two civilian guards at the base, and two pizza delivery men, and possession of the two AK assault rifles used in the shooting on the outskirts of Antrim.

The gunmen made their escape in a Vauxhall Cavalier which was later found partially burnt out in a laneway seven miles away.

Two burnt matches and a mobile phone were found inside the car and crime scene investigators also found a partially burnt match outside the car.

Giving evidence at Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday, the scientist said he had conducted tests on all of the items to ascertain if there were any DNA profiles on them.

He said that having been involved in DNA analysis and the interpretation of results since 1992 and having been involved in hundreds if not thousands of cases, he was of the opinion that given the amount of DNA he found, it was more likely to have been put there by primary transfer rather than secondary transfer.

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DNA clue 'found on burnt matches'