An armed robber has been caught after his DNA was matched with blood in a leech found at the scene of the crime.
The extraordinary case of the leech that led to a conviction of a weapon-wielding crook is believed to be a world first - and now the robber is awaiting sentencing on Friday.
Crown prosecutor John Ransom told a judge in Tasmania that the chances of the DNA found in the leech matching someone were one in a hundred million.
‘It is the oddest way of convicting anyone I have ever been involved in,’ Detective Inspector Mick Johnston said outside the court after 54- year-old Peter Cannon pleaded guilty to aggravated armed robbery committed in 2001.
‘I have not been able to find any similar cases anywhere in the world - nothing like this at all.’
