Blood stains were found on footwear belonging to a 15-year-old girl accused of murdering Warren Free, a jury was told on Monday.
Forensic scientist Sarah Vraitch told the jury at Lincoln Crown Court that she examined clothing belonging to the teenaged girl and found the blood on the outer toe area of a trainer.
Ms Vraitch said: “It was contact blood which could have come from Mr Free. The scientific finding indicated her trainer has come into contact with a source of Mr Free’s wet blood.”
She added that she also found DNA on two areas of a hooded top belonging to the same girl. She said that the tests indicated the presence of DNA from at least four contributors. The two major contributors, she said, could have been Mr Free and a 14-year-old girl who is also on trial for murder.
Ms Vraitch said that blood was not visible on the hooded top. She said nothing of significance was found when other items of clothing belonging to the 15-year-old were tested.
Blood was also found on a pair of jeans belonging to a boy who is also accused of murder.
She told the jury: “I would describe it as a contact blood stain. The stain originated on the outside and had soaked through to the inside. I am unable to determine how the blood was deposited.
“A DNA analysis was conducted. It matched the profile of Warren Free. The probability of that chance occurring is one in a billion.”
The prosecution alleges that Mr Free (42) was kicked, punched and stamped on by the group of six teenagers before a girl struck him over the head several times with a metal pole.
He went home to bed but friends were later unable to rouse him. An ambulance was called and he was airlifted to hospital but passed away within 24 hours from a head injury.
Six teenagers all deny the murder of Warren Free on 29 August 2014. Three of the defendants, including a girl, were 14 at the time while the others were a girl of 15 and a 16 year old together with Jake Edwards (now 18), of Mill Green Road, Pinchbeck.
Two of the boys, who were 14 and 16 at the time, each deny a charge of perverting the course of justice relating to the disposal of the metal pole in a nearby waterway.
The trial continues.
