A retired University of the West Indies chemistry professor yesterday testified that no cypermethrin was found during the analyses of samples conducted by him on former Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer.

Giving evidence during day 18 of the inquest into the coach’s death at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, Professor Tara Dasgupta told the court that he was enlisted by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mark Shields, last month to conduct analyses of samples of Woolmer’s DNA and fluids. This, he said, followed discrepancies in the findings of British-based toxicologist John Slaughter and local forensic pathologists surrounding the presence of cypermethrin in their samples.

According to Dasgupta, of the eight samples sent to him from the local forensic laboratory, three, including Woolmer’s stomach contents which was earlier pronounced as having contained a significant amount of the poisonous substance by acting chief forensic officer of the Forensic Services Laboratory, Fitzmore Coates, did not have adequate volume to allow for proper analysis.

Dasgupta also said that only three of the five samples sent to him from Slaughter’s laboratory in the UK had enough for proper testing, echoing the complaint Slaughter had made through director of the local forensics service laboratory, Judith Mowatt, last week.

His analysis of the useable samples, he told the court, showed no traces of the poison, contradicting the findings of Coates, local forensic analyst Marcia Dunbar and director of the Barbados Forensic Service, Cheryl Corbin.

Describing a report submitted by Coates outlining the steps he took to determine the concentration of cypermethrin in Woolmer’s stomach contents, Dasgupta described Coates’ data as “puzzling” and his analysis as ‘not proper’.