Didgeridoo DNA ‘not enough to secure murder conviction’, High Court ruling shows

DNA on a didgeridoo was not enough to prove beyond reasonable doubt an Adelaide man was involved in a violent murder, the publication of a High Court ruling has revealed.

After hearing arguments on the case in June, the court quashed Daniel Glenn Fitzgerald's murder conviction and released him from prison.

Fitzgerald was convicted of murder by a Supreme Court jury after prosecutors alleged he and a group of men stormed an Elizabeth South house in June 2011 and attacked the occupants with weapons including a garden fork, a pole and wooden planks.

One victim, Kym Drover, 22, died four days later and a second victim, Leon Karpany, sustained serious brain injuries.

Fitzgerald and his co-accused, Grant Andrew Sumner, were sentenced to a minimum 20 years' jail.

It was not alleged Fitzgerald or Sumner inflicted the fatal blow on Mr Drover or the blows that seriously injured Mr Karpany.

The court also heard none of the witnesses identified Fitzgerald.

After losing an appeal against his conviction, Fitzgerald took the case to the High Court which ruled his DNA on a didgeridoo at the scene was not enough to convict him beyond reasonable doubt.

It ruled the sample could have been transferred through Sumner, who had shaken Fitzgerald's hand at a boxing match before the attack.

The court has now published its reasons for the ruling.

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Didgeridoo DNA 'not enough to secure murder conviction', High Court ruling shows