Kevin Jackson

The work of three Forensic Science Service (FSS) departments combined help provide evidence which convicted a carjacking gang who murdered a father-of-two.

Kevin Jackson, 31, was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver outside his home in Halifax, West Yorkshire, after he chased three men trying to steal his father-in-law’s Toyota RAV4 jeep. He died two days after the attack on New Year’s Day 2002.

Twenty-one-year-old Rashad Zaman was arrested by police several days after the attack. An FSS scientist examined his Ford Fiesta car. In the car boot she found a screwdriver which turned out to be the murder weapon after microscopic traces of blood were discovered embedded between the blade and the handle. Following DNA analysis using FSS SGMplusTM the blood was found to match Kevin Jackson, linking Zaman to the attack.

Further examination of the screwdriver by a senior reporting officer (RO) specialising in tool marks showed that the marks inside the lock of the Toyota, which the gang had been attempting to steal, had undoubtedly been made by the screwdriver.

Three weeks after the attack police arrested Rangzaib Akhtar, 20, and Raees Khan, 21.

Many items were recovered from the suspects’ addresses by the police including a pair of ‘Rockport’ boots in the loft of Zaman’s house. After examination they were found to be covered in spatters of blood which matched Kevin Jackson’s DNA profile.

One of the FSS reporting officers who attended the crime scene and gave evidence at the trial said: “This was a very good piece of evidence because it placed the boots in the area when the attack took place. The boots had not just come into contact with the blood but the spattering meant the wearer had been nearby when the attack took place.”

Zaman denied that the boots were his, but skin flakes inside were found to match Zaman. Hairs which were also in the boots matched Khan. The jury at Leeds Crown Court were told at the trial that the boots probably belonged to Khan but had been worn occasionally by Zaman.

Footwear marks left in the snow at the scene were examined by another FSS scientist. He was able to match these marks to a pair of Nike trainers found at Akhtar’s house. Other footwear marks matched the pair of ‘Rockport’ boots found in Zaman’s loft.

However, a crucial piece of evidence came from the analysis of skin scrapings taken from under Kevin Jackson’s fingernails. A full DNA profile was obtained and loaded on to The National DNA Database®. A match was made to Khan.

“It was a massive piece of evidence. It not only put him at the scene but put him there attacking Kevin Jackson. That was the only way his DNA could have got under Kevin Jackson’s fingernails” said the FSS RO who went to the trial.

Rashad Zaman, Rangzaib Akhtar, and Raees Khan, all from Bradford, were convicted of murder at Leeds Crown Court in December 2002 and each received a sentence of life imprisonment.