By Nick Bryant
BBC News, Sydney
**Australian Police in Tasmania have used a blood sample from a leech to identify a criminal, in what is believed to be a world forensic first.**Eight years ago, a group of thieves robbed a 71-year-old woman in her home.
The leech sucked blood from one of the assailants, Peter Alec Cannon, and was later picked up at the crime scene by the police.
The DNA was stored on a database. When Cannon was charged on a drug offense last year, the sample matched up.
This is believed to be the first time that the lowly leech has been used in the forensic fight against crime.
Cannon has now pleaded guilty to aggravated armed robbery, with the leech providing incontrovertible proof of his genetic fingerprint.