Judgment has been reserved in a Supreme Court case brought by Kevin Nunn, a Suffolk man who is serving life in prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend, to have forensic exhibits re-tested.

Ipswich Star: Dawn WalkerDawn Walker (Image: Archant)

The salesman was convicted in 2006 of the murder of Dawn Walker after her partially clothed body was found on the bank of the River Lark in Suffolk, but he claims he is innocent.

Nunn’s legal team are trying to force Suffolk Police to give them access to key forensic evidence linked to the case that they said was not properly examined at the time.

This includes sperm found on Miss Walker’s body after she died in February 2005, from which the original investigators were unable to get a full DNA profile.

Solicitor James Saunders said: “The infamous cases of Stephen Lawrence, Damilola Taylor and Rachel Nickell were all solved when cold case reviews found evidence missed in the original investigation.

“In Mr Nunn’s case, we know the killer must have touched certain items on which he could have left his DNA. Sperm was found on Ms Walker’s body which could not have come from Mr Nunn, who had a vasectomy, but which the technology at the time could not profile. There have been major advances in DNA profiling since 2006 which hold out the real prospect of a breakthrough coming out of a cold case review.

“If Mr Nunn does not have the right to have the case reviewed, we face the worrying possibility of an innocent man rotting in jail when the evidence that might exonerate him is locked in a store at the police station. Equally worrying is that if Mr Nunn is innocent, the real killer is still out there, free to attack someone else.”

Nunn was denied permission to appeal his conviction in 2007, and in 2012 his attempts to get Suffolk Police to grant access to key exhibits were also turned down.

Prosecutors claim he killed Miss Walker in a jealous rage after she left him for a man with whom she had previously had a relationship.

Describing his original murder trial, Nunn’s sister Brigitte Butcher, who lives in Norfolk, said: “There was character assassination in the courtroom that he was lying and he was jealous. Perhaps he was jealous but not to the extent that he would kill Dawn.

“He had no previous convictions, he had only ever had a parking ticket.

“There wasn’t one piece of evidence against Kevin. Poor Dawn’s death was a hideous ordeal that she went through, but there wasn’t anything against Kevin forensically.”