ITV1 unpicks DNA secrets

she studied sea slugs at university – “they’re totally gripping”, she insisted. Her flair for detail led her into forensic science, which she discovered was a field “totally dominated by men”. Her experience allowed her to present forensic details in such a way that “lawyers could understand the evidence properly”.

The programme showed how she recreated White’s flat in the lab, which eventually gave clues to where blood DNA evidence could be found, more than a decade after the police investigation had originally drawn a blank.

She described herself as an optimist but, looking to the future, she is concerned that, when money is tight, the police struggle to fund detailed forensic investigations, and this could result in misleading evidence.

One of the Cardiff Five, John Actie, interviewed in the programme, was also in the audience, and he spoke about the lingering perception in the local community that, despite his successful appeal, there was “no smoke without fire”. But finding the real killer via DNA evidence cleared him once and for all.

He said: “Angela saved my life – I was completely finished until she came along.”

Hywel Wiliam