奇闻轶事：水蛭使盗窃犯定罪

Australian Police in Tasmania have used a blood sample from a leech¹ to identify a criminal, in what is believed to be a world forensic² first.

塔斯马尼亚岛的澳大利亚警察利用从水蛭身上提取的血样来确定罪犯，这被认为是世界上第一例此类法庭证据。

Leeches³ were once a medical treatment but have now caught a thief" width="226" border="0" src="http://www.enread.com/upimg/091020/4_065119_1.jpg" />
Leeches were once a medical treatment but have now caught a thief

Eight years ago, a group of thieves robbed a 71-year-old woman in her home.

The leech（水蛭） sucked blood from one of the assailants（攻击者，袭击者）, Peter Alec Cannon⁴, and was later picked up at the crime scene by the police.

The DNA⁵ was stored on a database. When Cannon was charged on a drug offense⁶ last year, the sample matched up.

This is believed to be the first time that the lowly leech has been used in the forensic（法庭的） fight against crime.

Cannon has now pleaded guilty（服罪） to aggravated⁷（尖锐的，加重的） armed robbery, with the leech providing incontrovertible（无疑的，明白的） proof of his genetic⁸ fingerprint⁹.