We’ve Discovered a Way to Recover DNA From Fingerprints without Destroying Them

Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science, Dr Sarah Fieldhouse, has written a piece for The Conversation about discovering a way to recover DNA from fingerprints without destroying them.

“Fingerprints hold a lot more information than you might realise. They don’t just provide a pattern with which to identify people. They can also contain DNA. And as neither DNA nor fingerprints are infallible ways of working out who was at a location, combining both pieces of evidence could be vital for investigators.

The problem is that forensic scientists usually have to choose between one or the other, as recovering DNA can mean destroying the fingerprint and vice versa. However, my colleagues and I have discovered a new method that could collect both types of evidence at once.” Read the full article here.

The Science that Could Revolutionise Time Measurements in Forensic Investigations

Dr Graham Williams, Head of Criminal Justice and Forensic Science, discusses how new research ‘findings have made great contributions to the area of “temporal forensics”, some of which could vastly improve our understanding of what happens to our bodies after we die’. The full article, on The Conversation, can be accessed here.

What You Can Expect on Our Offer Holder Days

We had our third Offer Holder Day, on Saturday 17th February, for our 2018 entry applicants. The School of Law, Policing and Forensics applicants met our staff, a few of our students, and experienced taster sessions of what they can expect if they choose to study at Staffordshire University.

Chemistry is a part of the School of Law, Policing and Forensics, and is new for 2018. Our Chemistry applicants had hands on experience in our labs, where they conducted some paracetamol analysis and calculations .

Law applicants on a mixture of our Law courses, including the new BA Criminal Justice with Offender Management, got involved in two interactive sessions.

Louis Martin and Anna Garland used real life case studies and encouraged interactive discussions. Louis focused on serial killers and Criminal Law and Anna discussed the core areas of Legal study that students can expect to learn about (Contract Law, Tort Law, Constitutional Law, Property Law, Equitable Remedies, EU Law and Criminal Law), using a few of the following examples:

Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)
The Conjoined Twins: Surgical Separation (2001)
Jolly v Sutton LBC (2000).

Former Senior Investigating Officer for Staffordshire Police and Course Leader of our Policing and Criminal Investigation courses, Phil Lee, briefed our applicants and then took them to the crime scene house; they took the role of Senior Investigating Officers, where they used body cameras and recorded evidence.

 

Professor James Treadwell encouraged our Sociology and Criminology applicants to think like a Sociologist and Criminologist when discussing topical images. Applicants were then given the opportunity to speak to one of our current Sociology students and ask questions.

Forensic Science and Forensic Investigation applicants were suited in protective clothing and had practical experience of crime scene processing and evidence analysis – at our crime scene house and labs.

Our next Offer Holder Day will take place on Wednesday 14th March. Find out more on our website.

#itsNotOK Public Lecture: Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week

Dr Laura Walton-Williams delivered her first public lecture, #itsnotok, on 6th February for Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week.

The lecture, discussing perceptions of sexual offences, was partly informed by her research in the US and Canada exploring how investigations into sexual assualts could be improved.

White roses and bands were given out to show awareness.

The event also marks the 100 years since women were first allowed to vote.

If you missed the lecture, a video is now available to watch on our Facebook page @StaffsUniLPF here.