§ Mr. PatnickTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement on blood samples taken in drinking and driving cases in the Greater Manchester police area since 1986.
§ Mr. HurdAll forces in England and Wales, other than the Metropolitan and City of London forces, are supplied with blood sampling kits by the Home Office. Between March 1987 and December 1988, police stations in the 365W Greater Manchester police area were issued with kits in which the alcohol-free swabs had been replaced by the stores department of the force with swabs acquired from an independent source.
It was later found that these locally substituted swabs contained a solution with a very small percentage of alcohol. The blood analysis results in a number of these cases may therefore have been affected. The Home Office was notified by Greater Manchester police as soon as this knowledge became available. I am arranging to review as quickly as possible convictions which may be unsafe as a result and will also consider representations from individuals who believe that they were wrongly convicted.
This was a regrettable error within the Greater Manchester police. The unsuitable swabs were withdrawn from use in Greater Manchester immediately the problem came to light. This affects cases in the Greater Manchester police area only. Inquiries have established that no other force has substituted unsuitable swabs for those supplied by the Home Office.