Report: Thousands of UK cases collapse due to lost or mishandled police evidence

For anyone facing criminal charges, the evidence can make or break the case. So what happens when the police lose, damage, or mishandle that crucial evidence? Unfortunately, this nightmare scenario is more common than you might think, and it carries *serious legal implications* for everyone involved.

As criminal defence solicitors, we’ve seen first-hand how cases collapse and justice is derailed when evidence goes astray. In this article, we explain the scale of the problem – with thousands of cases affected – and why it’s such a challenge to achieving justice for defendants.

Thousands of Cases Collapse Due to Lost Evidence

A damning new study has revealed that police mishandling of evidence isn’t a one-off fluke – it’s alarmingly routine.

Professor Carole McCartney of the University of Leicester examined Crown Prosecution Service data and found that between October 2018 and August 2021, around 20,838 cases collapsed pre-trial due to missing or lost evidence.

Yes, you read that correctly – tens of thousands of prosecutions fell apart because crucial evidence was lost. This figure even includes serious offences like 42 homicide cases and 364 sex offence cases that had to be dropped because key evidence went missing. In other words, evidence blunders have let murder and sexual offence cases slip through the cracks.

Worryingly, the problem isn’t improving. The latest available data (September 2021 to September 2022) shows another 7,316 cases were dropped for the same reason – lost evidence – including 16 homicides and 123 sexual.

Despite new police protocols and technology intended to safeguard evidence, these failures continue nationwide. It’s not just statistics on a page; behind each collapsed case are individuals who didn’t see their day in court.

Front-line legal professionals confirm that evidential failings are far from rare. In a recent survey of lawyers and campaigners, a stunning 73% said they had worked on a criminal case where police evidence was **lost, destroyed or contaminated**.

Nearly half encountered this on multiple occasions, and over one-third even had cases where the loss of evidence **prevented an appeal**. In short, missing evidence isn’t an anomaly – it’s a systemic issue that crops up too often, with devastating consequences.

Serious Legal Implications for Justice

When police fail to preserve evidence, the legal fallout can be severe. The criminal justice system relies on evidence being available and reliable – if it’s not, the scales of justice tip dangerously.

Many cases simply cannot proceed if key exhibits vanish; prosecutors may have no choice but to drop the charges.

While a collapsed case might sound like a win for a defendant, it’s hardly a triumph of justice. The accused person may have endured months (or years) of stress only to have the case abandoned due to police error, not a genuine vindication of their innocence. Meanwhile, victims are left without closure, and public confidence in the system takes a hit.

Even worse is when a trial does go ahead despite missing evidence. Defendants could be fighting with one hand tied behind their back, especially if the lost material might have helped prove their innocence.

Every individual has the right to a fair trial, and “fair” means both sides have access to all the material evidence. If the defence never sees that CCTV footage or forensic sample because it was misplaced, how can the process be truly fair?

Courts have thrown out cases on the basis that a fair trial isn’t possible when evidence has been irretrievably lost – a stark reminder of how critical proper evidence handling is.

Let’s break down some of the key legal and practical consequences when evidence is lost or mishandled:

• Cases collapse: Charges may be dropped because crucial proof is missing – sometimes allowing the real offender to go free.
• Unfair trials: Proceedings continue without all evidence on the table, undermining the defendant’s right to a fair trial.
• Wrongful accusations or convictions: Innocent people risk being wrongly accused or even found guilty if evidence that could clear them is lost.
• Barriers to appeals: If evidence disappears, it might become impossible to challenge a conviction or uncover the truth later on (no evidence, no appeal).
• Erosion of trust and mental strain: Each failure shakes public trust in law enforcement and inflicts tremendous stress on defendants and their families.

The bottom line is that sloppy evidence handling can produce a ripple effect of injustice. It undermines the integrity of the whole criminal justice process.

As defence solicitors, we consider it our duty to hold the police and prosecution to account on these issues – ensuring they meet their obligations to disclose and preserve all evidence.

When they don’t, we use every legal tool available to protect our client’s rights, from applying to exclude unreliable evidence to arguing that a trial should be stayed (halted) for abuse of process. These aren’t just technicalities; they are fundamental safeguards against miscarriages of justice.

Impact on Defendants: Wrongful Accusations and Mental Distress

For defendants, the personal impact of lost evidence can be devastating. Imagine being accused of a crime you didn’t commit, and you know there was CCTV footage that would show you weren’t even at the scene. Then you find out that the footage was “destroyed” before it could be reviewed:

Suddenly, you’re stuck in an awful limbo – wrongly accused with no easy way to prove your innocence. Sadly, lawyers report that this exact scenario isn’t uncommon; crucial CCTV, phone data, or documents that suspects insist would exonerate them have also disappeared.

Being under investigation or on trial is extremely stressful even at the best of times. When evidence goes missing, that stress is amplified.

Defendants are left frustrated and anxious, knowing that a piece of proof out there could clear their name if only it hadn’t been lost or damaged. It’s not just about the verdict – it’s about the **mental distress** of prolonged uncertainty and the stigma of a lingering accusation.

Friends, family, and employers might still doubt an accused person’s innocence when a case is dropped due to “lack of evidence” rather than a positive acquittal. The individual is denied the opportunity to fully clear their name, which can take a lasting emotional toll.

The consequences extend even to those who are convicted. If someone is found guilty and later new evidence could prove their innocence, it’s a race against time to appeal.

But what if that new evidence was collected once upon a time and then lost in a police storeroom? For some, this isn’t a hypothetical question – it’s reality.

Over a third of legal professionals in the survey said they’d had cases where the loss or destruction of evidence meant their client could not appeal a wrongful conviction. In such cases, a person might remain behind bars because the very evidence that might free them has vanished. It’s hard to imagine a more troubling miscarriage of justice.

Missed Justice When Evidence Goes Missing

It’s not only defendants who suffer when evidence is mishandled – society at large pays a price. If vital evidence is lost, a guilty party might escape conviction and remain a danger to the public.

One striking example comes from a cold-case study: in the rape of a 16-year-old in 1989, police lost the case files and failed to upload a DNA profile to the database.

Years later, that same offender’s DNA was taken in an unrelated incident, but because the earlier sample had essentially gone missing, the match wasn’t made until 2010. In that time, the perpetrator went on to commit other serious crimes before finally being caught.

This shows how evidential failures can delay or deny justice for victims and allow criminals to offend again.

From a defence solicitor’s perspective, we want the right person to be held accountable and the innocent to be cleared.

Lost evidence undermines both of these goals. It’s frustrating for everyone: the defence, the prosecution, judges, juries, and the public. No one wants to see a case thrown out on a technicality like missing evidence, and certainly no one wants an innocent person to be wrongly punished or a culprit to walk free.

Yet, as the research indicates, there’s almost an air of inevitability to evidence going missing in some investigations. This should never be “business as usual.” The police have a duty to preserve evidence, and when they fail, it can amount to a serious breach of their responsibility.

Conclusion

The revelation that thousands of cases have collapsed due to lost or damaged evidence is a wake-up call for our justice system.

It highlights a systemic problem in evidence handling that cannot be ignored. Such failures tilt the scales of justice and can lead to miscarriages of justice – both in the form of innocent people suffering and guilty individuals evading accountability.

As criminal defence solicitors, we find this situation unacceptable. Every case deserves to be handled with care, and every defendant has the right to a fair process.

We echo the call for better training, resources, and oversight to ensure evidence is preserved and disclosed properly. Nothing less than the integrity of our criminal justice system is at stake.

On our part, we will continue to scrutinise evidence handling in every case we take on. This recent research is proof that the problem isn’t unique to one or two cases, but represents a **negligent attitude by authorities towards their legal duties**: By shining a light on these issues, we hope to drive change – because justice delayed or denied by a lost piece of evidence is justice not served at all.

How We Can Help

If you are facing a police investigation or prosecution – especially if you suspect evidence has been lost or mishandled in your case – it’s vital to get expert legal advice as early as possible.

Our experienced defence team will rigorously examine how the evidence in your case has been gathered and handled, and we’ll fight to ensure that no stone is left unturned in protecting your rights.

Please don’t hesitate to call us on 0161 477 1121 or contact us online for advice and immediate assistance. We are here to help you get the justice you deserve.