Defence Says DNA Samples Were Taken From Man Without His Consent; Trial Pencilled In For November

The Grand Court heard that the case turns on new DNA evidence, that the circumstances in which the samples were taken will be challenged, and that the defendant has been in custody approaching a year.

By Alric Lindsay

Newly instructed defence counsel Nicholas Dixey told the Grand Court today, August 21, 2026, that officers attended the prison some weeks ago and took additional DNA samples from Bradshaw Tamango Watson, a remanded defendant, without his consent, and that the circumstances in which those samples were taken will form the basis of a legal argument.

Dixey, who said he had been instructed recently and had spoken to his client in prison the previous day, told the court that from his review of the papers the entire case rests on DNA evidence, and in particular on the results of the new samples.

Those results, Dixey said, had not been communicated to the defence. “One would have expected and hoped that by now the results of those tests would have been communicated,” he said, describing the answer as a matter of urgency because the rest of the defence planning depended on it. If the results were adverse, he said, the court would be looking not only at legal argument about how the samples were obtained but potentially at instructing a defence expert to analyse them.

In the circumstances, Justice Richards directed Crown Counsel from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to provide any new report within seven days, or an explanation if it was not available, and listed the matter for mention on September 18, 2026.

The defendant, who appeared via video link, addressed the court himself, saying he had made a complaint about the taking of the sample, that anti-corruption officers had met and investigated, and that he had received a note back saying the sample was insufficient. He said he had not yet sent that email to his new attorney. Justice Richards directed him to do so.

He was remanded in custody to the mention date of September 18, 2026, with a trial date expected in November 2026.