BLUNDER

A blood sample from Hampshire mother Jane Boyd had been stored in readiness for her trial - but at the wrong temperature.

Instead of being kept in a fridge or a freezer, it was left in a basement.

London's Criminal Appeal Court heard "complete incompetence" on the part of the prosecution had made Ms Boyd's conviction unsafe. Now she is a free woman after the judges quashed her suspended jail sentence.

The original case hinged on whether Ms Boyd, of Millbrook Road East, Southampton, was high on heroin at the time of the horror crash with a lorry coming in the other direction on the busy A35 at Totton in October 1999.

Appeal judges heard the prosecution had not stored her blood sample correctly, which meant it could not be reliably tested by the defence.

They ruled by doing this, the prosecution had deprived her of the opportunity to establish a defence.

In overturning her conviction, London's Criminal Appeal Court said the original trial judge Patrick Hooton should have thrown out the case against her "as an abuse of process".

Ms Boyd, 40, who used to live in Blackfield, Waterside, was found guilty in May last year at Winchester Crown Court of causing the death of her "dream child" Kelly by careless driving while under the influence of heroin.

She was sentenced to 18 months in jail, which was suspended for two years.

Before sentencing Ms Boyd, Judge Hooton said: "It is difficult to imagine a worse punishment than the one you have already suffered.

"You got in a car with three children in the back. You drove after you had taken heroin. At least partly because of that, there was a dreadful crash. Kelly was killed. It was entirely your fault."

The lenient sentence handed down caused a public outcry, prompting Solicitor General Harriet Harman to refer the case back to the Court of Appeal.

Now, Lord Justice Rose, sitting with Mr Justice Gibbs and Mr Justice Davis, heard it was far from clear whether she was under the influence of heroin at the time of the smash.

A blood sample was taken from her at Southampton General Hospital and, when analysed on behalf of the prosecution, it was said to give a positive screening to morphine and opiate drugs.

The defence disputed this and wanted to conduct its own analysis but was later told the sample had not been stored properly and could not be tested again.

Ms Boyd's defence was that she had taken a heroin substitute, Diconal, in the morning, that the car had some sort of mechanical problem and, at the time of the accident, her child passengers had distracted her.

The original case was brought by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). A CPS spokesman said the blood sample was stored by the Forensic Science Service, an independent organisation.

He added: "It's very rare for the Forensic Science Service not to store something correctly, but on this occasion it appears they did.

"We will look at what happened and raise it with them."

A Hampshire police spokeswoman said: "The Constabulary has not had an opportunity to read the full judgement and it would be inappropriate to comment."

A Forensic Science Service spokesman was unavailable for comment.