Head of Chambers, Ronan O’Donovan, appears in the leading case in respect of the reliability of hair strand testing for drugs and how the results of hair tests should be interpreted by practitioners. Ronan represented Lextox, one of the laboratories intervening in ongoing care proceedings where the issue of the mother’s use of drugs was called into dispute by a trichologist. In his last judgment as a High Court Judge, Peter Jackson J held that the variability of findings from hair strand testing does not call into question the underlying science, but underlines the need to treat numerical data with proper caution. Ronan appeared at the Final Hearing; Christopher Miller represented Lextox at earlier hearings.
For the judgment in full, please click here