About Us
Alan Baker - Profile
Alan Baker graduated in 1988 with a First Class Honours degree in Applied Chemistry and subsequently took up employment with a firm of scientific consultants in Derby where he began working as a forensic scientist in 1990.
He subsequently helped the business to develop into one of the leading, independent forensic laboratories in the UK. Alan was promoted to Divisional Manager in 1997 whereupon he took responsibility for all forensic and drugs testing work for the company.
His work as a scientist incorporated Prosecution and Defence investigations for Police Forces and Solicitor practices across the UK and consequently he has given evidence in numerous Magistrates and Crown Courts utilising the experience gained from formal Bond Solon Courtroom skills training and Alan's background of 3500 forensic investigations.
He became a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC) and a Chartered Chemist (CChem) in 1994. In addition he is also on the UK Register of Expert Witnesses, a member of The Expert Witness Institute, is a Sweet and Maxwell checked witness and an associate member of the Forensic Science Society
Alan took the opportunity in 2004 to buy Bericon, one of the UK's oldest forensic science consultancies and since then he has quadrupled the company's annual caseload and has appeared on Sky News, CNN, ITN, BBC radio, Talk radio and Legal TV offering expert opinion on more high profile cases. He has also appeared as the resident forensic expert in a series for Sky TV's The Crime Channel.
The Forensic Process
The provision of forensic science services to English and Welsh Police Forces is now a completely different to the marketplace 10 years ago. Traditionally, the sole provider of such services was the Home Office Forensic Science Service, who operated on a regional sites across the country, each of which tended to provide a comprehensive range of services.
The advent of competition in 1990's meant that smaller forensic organisations began to make in-roads into the marketplace particularly in the supply of more specialised areas of work such as drugs and document examination.
The picture in 2008 continues to change and certain Police Forces resource their forensic services from a number of laboratories. Alongside this, Forces have become increasingly aware of budgetary restrictions and long since gone are the days when an investigating officer asked for all samples and items to be analysed as part of an investigation. Indeed, today's forensic scientist can usually be aked to focus on fairly discrete areas of interest and it is often down to defending solicitors to pick-up the metaphorical scientific pieces.
That's where Bericon comes to the fore. In the more routine type of criminal case there is often little forensic evidence of note but as prosecution investigations get more specific and science continues to advance then there has never been greater need for scrutiny of cases.
Bericon is mindful of the pressures of the legal system, whether it be Courts setting early Trial dates or the late submission of evidence and we aim to work with our solicitor clients to minimise delay and get a quote and free initial review completed within 24 hours and our reports emailed or faxed to you within days. In fact, Bericon always operates on the basis of how quick do you need it?
That's why we continue to grow and always recognise the need to be the voice at the end of a phone, whatever the time.
The Four C's
Forensic scientists often only become involved in the investigation of a crime some time after it has occurred and probably after the direction of the case has been decided by supervising Police Officers.
Whilst as a firm of expert scientists, Bericon are committed to the assessment of evidence from the moment that it is collected it is so often that the scientist working on behalf of the Crown is only given limited information about the incident and are often directed to review a particular aspect of a case. The communication of information at outset of an investigation is vital but can often leave the scientist open to...
It is often said that the sample received at the lab is only as good or as reliable as the way in which the sample has been taken or packaged and never more is this the case in the days of the trace detection of DNA and drugs. Indeed the continuity and contamination of items are issues that will always haunt the forensic community and typically offer-up the most significant areas of assessment for Bericon and our legal clients.
As the provision of forensic science evolves, it does so in-hand with the assessment of costs by Police Forces. Here at Bericon we believe that a rising number of investigations are significantly affected by the assessment of costs and the likelihood that a particular investigation will yield a particular piece of evidence.
At Bericon we believe that the assessment of the whole process of forensic investigation has never been more important and we seek to review
* The collection of evidence and ask were the right samples taken?
* The continuity of items and ask were the samples correctly packaged? The analysis and examination of materials and ask why were only certain items submitted to the laboratory?
* The conclusions of any statement or report and ask just how important or relevant are they?