DNA link nets rapist 14 years on

Neville Mansfield, pictured outside the Sale court house in 2009. Photo: Courtesy ABC

Neville Mansfield was never a suspect in a terrifying home invasion where a young mother was repeatedly raped and her two children and an elderly babysitter threatened until 14 years later, when his DNA was linked to the crime.

Mansfield, now 52, had masked his face and head with a tea-towel, so that just a narrow slit revealed his eyes, when he entered the Shepparton house through an unlocked door in April 1993 armed with a knife.

He was not caught until 2007 when arrested by Queensland police for other crimes. A DNA sample was taken and matched a sperm fragment of DNA on the Shepparton mother.

During his trial, evidence was given that the sperm sample was 8.4 trillion times more likely to be from Mansfield than from a random member of the population.

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Today, Mansfield went to court seeking leave to appeal his conviction and jail sentence.

Defence barrister Dermot Dann told the Court of Appeal's Justices Peter Buchanan, David Ashley and Paul Coghlan that the Crown case against Mansfield was a circumstantial one which relied heavily on DNA evidence.

Mr Dann said the jury at Mansfield's trial was not properly instructed on how to deal with the DNA evidence.

He said other aspects of the case, including the "resemblance evidence", was particularly weak.

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DNA link nets rapist 14 years on