It's taken 13 years, thousands of dollars and countless missed opportunities, but WA shearer Alan Staines has finally cleared his name of a crime he did not commit.

On Monday, after a brief hearing in WA's Supreme Court, Justice Stephen Hall quashed Mr Staines's conviction for a 2004 burglary, ruling there had been a miscarriage of justice.

Mr Staines had admitted the crime 13 years ago, after being told there was damning DNA evidence against him.

The DNA, from blood found at the crime scene, had been analysed by PathWest, where it was identified as belonging to Mr Staines.

The problem was there were two Alan Staines, and PathWest ended up matching the DNA sample to the wrong one.

The innocent Mr Staines was charged by police and pleaded guilty on advice from his lawyer, because he believed it was inevitable he would be convicted given the DNA evidence.

He was given a 12-month suspended jail term.

The mistake was finally picked up by PathWest in April last year and police were notified, but it took another year for Mr Staines to be told — something that Justice Hall said Monday was "concerning".

State Prosecutor Robert Wilson said he also had not received an explanation for the delay, but he said he would be writing to police to try to find out what happened.

He said that information would be passed onto Mr Staines because "courtesy if nothing else, required an explanation."

Compensation bid to follow

In his ruling, Justice Hall said it was clear Mr Staines had entered a guilty plea because of the "erroneous DNA evidence" and without that there would have been no "prima facie" case against him."

Justice Hall said he was satisfied there had been a miscarriage of justice and he set aside Mr Staines' conviction and sentence.

Mr Staines will also be awarded costs to cover his legal fees from the initial case and the appeal.

He said he would be seeking compensation from the State Government for the impact the ordeal has had on his life.

"Mostly just with family, my relationship. I missed out on my kids growing up for a bit because of it," he said.

"Now that's all out [of] the way I can get on, get back to where I should be."

He also said he had missed out on jobs because they required a police clearance, which because of the conviction, he couldn't get.

Mr Staines says he now wants to find out why he wasn't told immediately when police discovered there had been a mistake.

"That's the most important thing I want to know really, why it was hidden?" he said.

The State Government declined to comment.