[Closed] Police corruption trial collapses (Lynette White murder)

I havent really been following this case http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-15981541 but it seems to the trial collapse because the officers would not be able to receive a fair trial due to missing evidence.

Simon Clements, the CPS reviewing lawyer in the case, said that at the request of the judge on 28 November, a review by the prosecution of a certain section of the unused material uncovered that some copies of files, originally reviewed but not considered discloseable at that time, were missing.

This information, he said, related to complaints made by one of the original defendants to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and another complaint relating to the investigation.

"On inquiry, it was found that these copies had been destroyed and no record of the reason for their destruction had been made by the police officers concerned," said Mr Clements.

"This was the first time that prosecution counsel or the CPS had been made aware of this destruction."

Mr Clements added: "Although this relates to copies and not original files, it is now impossible to say for certain whether the copy was in fact exactly the same material that had been provided by the IPCC, reviewed and then destroyed.

"The destruction of those copies, along with the non-recording of the destruction, meant that it would be impossible to give meaningful re-assurances that no other material had been treated similarly, thus undermining the defence's confidence in the disclosure process.

"Given the stage reached in the proceedings, the correct course of action is to offer no evidence, thus inviting verdicts of not guilty and ending the trial."

Like i said i haven't been following the case (and even if i had i dont really know the proceedures involved anyway)...but is such an unrecorded destruction of evidence which leads to police officers getting off with corruption charges as dodgy as it sounds? Or have i been watching too many episodes of the Shield?