Although the advances in DNA testing means that the power of forensic evidence has never been greater it shoudn't be forgotten that the more traditional areas of forensic science are still very powerful methods of associating an individual with a crime scene.

Some of our most recent successes have come in the following types of case:

Fibres – The location of fibres on the deceased clothing was of great significance to the Prosecution’s case but we were able to uncover the fact that the clothing had been folded and placed into a used carrier bag at the mortuary thereby meaning that the fibres could have been already in the bag or had been on another, non-relevant part of the garment.

In another case the victim’s clothing had been left in an open office for four days after the alleged attack and the Prosecution could not be certain that the garment had not been contaminated after the incident.

Glass – Glass fragments on the victim’s clothing matched that from the crime scene but it was found that the arresting Police Officer had trampled through the broken glass and then subsequently knelt on the back of the accused meaning that glass fragments may have been inadvertently transferred.

DNA – It was identified that a knife used in a murder had been packaged incorrectly and the Prosecution could not establish the integrity of the item.

Drugs – The victim of an alleged date-rape had a urine sample taken about 15 hours after the incident but crucially in that time period she had not urinated. We were able to demonstrate that the lack of the substance GHB in her urine meant that this substance could not have been administered to her.

Drink Driving – Assistance given to Solicitors where the validity of a urine alcohol sample has been shown to be in doubt due to poor Police process.

In a road traffic accident we were able to demonstrate that at the relevant time the driver may have been under the statutory limit.

Drug Driving – Assessment of toxicological and medical reports has shown that individuals were not impaired at the time of driving as had been alleged.

Arson - The Prosecution concluded that two fires had been set, in adjacent rooms resulting in the defendant being charged with arson.  We reviewed the evidence and using our knowledge of fire spread and material behaviour, we were able to offer an equally scientifically robust explanation.  This was based on a single fire in one room reaching sufficient severity to cause the tempered glass in the interconnecting door between the rooms to fail, with the radiant heat then available from this fire being sufficient to ignite the furniture in the next room.  With two possible reasons to explain the observed facts, the prosecution was not proceeded with.

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