Who we are
We're a national resource available to the police and to forensic practitioners both in the UK and internationally, supporting serious crime investigations.
What we do
We assist with the identification of unknown injuries, provide case examples of known injuries and weapons, provide advice and support on forensic medical issues such as child abuse, homicides and serious assaults as well as sourcing independent external forensic and medical experts.
How we can help
Our work focuses on the assessment of injuries and comparing them with reference cases of injuries held on the database to assist with causation. This is particularly useful for an investigation team in cases where:
- Unusual injuries are present and the causation is required
- Patterned injuries are present and the causation is required
- A suspected weapon is known and questions have been raised regarding the consistencies of the injury with the weapon
- A set of circumstances has been given to account for an injury, and the consistency of this account against the injuries seen is required
"We were successful thanks to the professional help and support provided by your unit."
We can also provide access to:
- An external forensic or medical expert to provide an independent opinion for live and cold case investigations - we've generated a wealth of experience and knowledge through close working relationships with Forensic Pathologists and other forensic and medical experts
- An external forensic image specialist to provide an independent opinion on image overlays used to compare weapon and wound characteristics for identification, alternative light sourcing used to enhance injuries on skin and/or court presentations used to accurately represent injuries in a diagram format for injuries
