Expert Witness

Soil analysis helps solve a 37-year-old murder investigation in Scotland. In Huddersfield, analysis of insect life on a body found on the moors helps detectives catch a killer.

Blood traces hidden under paint allow an expert witness to find a killer and free five men from suspicion. An unusual gait identifies the murderer of an office worker.

Marks left by the tread of a shoe help detectives catch a killer terrorising Rochdale, and a forensic linguist deciphers messages written in slang, revealing a murder plot.

A team of expert witnesses follow a trail of fibres and DNA to solve three cold cases in Pembrokeshire, and a fraudulent diamond investment scheme is exposed by a gemologist.

A body left in a field prompts the examination of pollen, establishing a new forensic discipline, and fibres fused with car wreckage prove who caused a fatal traffic collision.

After 32 years, expert fibre analysis helps bring the killer of two Brighton schoolgirls to justice, and the analysis of bones found on a Yorkshire moor helps find two killers.

Some criminal investigations are so complicated that they require a number of expert witnesses to be involved. This programme examines how forensic evidence from a whole team of scientists turned a missing person case into a hunt for a murderer, and then into an investigation into one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers.

A young schoolboy is mysteriously shot in the head while playing in the school yard, but who fired the gun and from where? Philip Boyce, a forensic ballistics expert, is called in to test-fire a number of different guns and reconstruct the injuries to find out who fired the gun.

Following the unexplained death of a man in Yorkshire, found alone in his home with no signs of forced entry or a struggle, police were at a loss to explain his death. They turned to expert witness Duncan Campbell to help solve the mystery. Duncan, a forensic scientist, decided to analyse something that is part of everyday life, food. After examining the man’s final meal, the expert witness not only solved the crime but in turn helped to make legal history by ensuring a guilty verdict was achieved in this very rare and unusual case.

After a 25-year-old woman goes missing in Bristol, the police launch a major missing-person enquiry. Soon after, the body of the young woman is discoved by dog walkers on Christmas Day, and the hunt becomes a major murder enquiry. As investigators can find no sign of forced entry to her flat, they conclude that her killer must be someone known to her.

This episode follows two shocking criminal cases in Yorkshire, each involving a woman murdered by her partner, and two expert witnesses with very different disciplines in forensic science who help to deliver justice.

In our first story, a community reels in total shock when a doting grandmother is found murdered in her home. Detectives search for the killer and suspect it may be someone close to her. The suspect's DNA is found all over the crime scene, but that is easily explained because he lived until recently in the same house. So the police try another route. They approach Kelly Sheridan, an expert witness in fibre evidence, who uncovers a trail of fibres, unravelling the mystery and putting the killer in jail.

When a dismembered body is discovered, police turn to a facial reconstruction expert to help identify the victim.

When the body of a farmer is found in a lake, a bioarchaeologist helps police reveal how he got there. Meanwhile, when a man is accused of intentionally spreading the HIV virus, a virologist is called on to determine his guilt.

When a 21-year-old student is murdered and dumped in the Humber Estuary, a forensic biologist helps police bring her killer to justice. And an expert witness analyses soil at a shallow grave to unearth the truth behind the death of a man in Scotland.

When a woman is the victim of an acid attack in Brighton, an expert pieces together hours of CCTV footage to identify the suspect. And through pollen analysis, an expert witness helps police solve a murder case.

When two men are wrongly convicted of murder, a forensic blood spatter analyst helps to prove their innocence. And an expert witness uses mobile phone analysis to help police bring a gang of drug traffickers to justice.

When a young man is stabbed to death, a facial recognition expert helps Merseyside Police catch the killer. And a specialist palynologist’s help is needed by detectives investigating the disappearance of an elderly couple.

The heart-wrenching case of eight-year-old Sarah Payne, who was abducted and murdered. A forensic ecologist finds a vital link between the suspect and the gravesite. And an expert witness analyses blood at the scene, where remains are found in a freezer

A twisted killer throws two suitcases containing severed remains into a canal, and it’s down to a 3D-scanning expert to uncover the crucial evidence needed to convict him. And a forensic entomologist helps prove a suspected case of extreme dog neglect.

When a body is found in a wheelie bin dumped in a lake, can a cell site analyst track the suspects’ movements and help put them behind bars? And when a man disappears in the Highlands, a soil expert unearths the grim truth that identifies his killers.

When a violent gang use a secret language to discuss a fatal attack, police turn to a forensic linguist to crack their code. And one of the biggest cannabis growing operations ever seen in the UK is brought down with the help of a drugs expert.

Will untying the knot of a dressing gown cord used to kill Mary McLoughlin 35 years ago finally reveal the identity of her killer? And when a student’s body is found in a suitcase, a soil expert’s analysis of muddy shoes helps solve the case.

In a horrifying case of mistaken identity, a man is stabbed to death in his home. Can an intelligence analyst help convict the suspects? And when a teenager is found beaten to death, a trace evidence specialist helps police confirm the murder weapon.