Last year I supervised a final year student, Alistair Bucknell, for his research project. We decided to look at the use of drones in forensic investigations and any affect they may have on crimescene evidence. Alistairs work was so thorough that we decided to submit it to a scientific…
Tag: Police
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Forensic scientists arrested following probe at Manchester toxicology lab
Last month the UK’s Forensic Science Regulator, Gillian Tully, warned that the cuts to forensic science provision in the UK could lead to miscarriages of justice. I doubt she thought a major case would come up so quickly. It has been reported today that two forensic scientists working for Randox Testing…
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Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 – The end of legal highs?
From midnight (starting 26 May 2016) the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 comes into effect, aiming to stamp out the market in ‘legal highs’ or novel psychoactive substances. The Act, which has seen several delays this year, will make it an offence to import, sell, supply or produce any substance knowing that it…
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Fragmentation of cases may mean missing part of the puzzle
Current concern among forensic scientists is the ‘fragmentation’ of cases. What this means is different exhibits from a case are sent to different laboratories and no one forensic scientist maintains an overview of what is happening. Such cases are managed by the Police rather than forensic scientists and the argument…
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Oscar Pistorius – how not to present forensic evidence
The biggest sport related scandal this week for once has not been related to doping . The death of Reeva Steenkamp and the bail hearing of Oscar ‘Bladerunner’ Pistorius has captivated not only sports fans but also the wider public. What about the forensic evidence? The tragic events of…
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The year in forensic science – 2012 part 1
What have the hot stories been? What about my personal forensic science highlights of 2012? Read on! The year 2012 got off to a flying forensic start. On the 1st of January my paper on the analysis of hair samples from children living in methamphetamine labs was accepted into…
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A forensic scientist’s tales from the courtroom
I’ve been asked many times what it’s like to give evidence in court. How nervous do you get? Do you get tied up in knots by smart lawyers every time? The truth is it is often very dull and repetitive. There is a pattern to court appearances in my experience. You…
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Forensic Science Research – ‘Accredited Provider’
Last week I summed up what I thought the current climate looked like in forensic science research. This provoked some discussion through LinkedIn and twitter, mostly agreement. I thought I would try and develop a couple of ideas of how we can move forward. Meet the ‘Accredited Forensic Research Provider’. At the bottom of my previous blog I suggested…
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Forensic Science Research – What Research?
On Monday I travelled down to London for the Forensic Science Society’s ‘Education and Industry Forum’ at the Home Office. I wanted to find out what the current state of play was and who is doing what? And crucially how do I get my hands on the money? The meeting…