Breakthrough in fingerprinting

Last Modified: 20 May 2008
Source: PA News

A major breakthrough in the way fingerprints are taken from crime scenes could lead to hundreds of cold cases being reopened, a forensic scientist has said.

The new method enables scientists to visualise fingerprints even after the print itself has been removed.

It works by applying an electric charge to a metal - say a gun or bullet - which has been coated in a fine conducting powder, similar to that used in photocopiers.

Even if the fingerprint has been washed off, it leaves a slight corrosion on the metal and this attracts the powder when the charge is applied, so showing up a residual fingerprint.

The technique works on everything from bullet casings to machine guns. Even if heat vaporises normal clues, police will be able to prove who handled a particular gun.

Northamptonshire Police's scientific support unit will reveal its discovery in detail in the Journal of Forensic Science.

Dr John Bond developed the technique with forensic researchers at the University of Leicester.

He said: "It's certainly possible hundreds of cold cases could be reopened because with this method the only way to avoid a fingerprint being detected is through abrasive cleaning as that takes a layer off the metal.

"It could work for gun crimes where bullets have been recovered and the offender may have left a fingerprint on the casing that has not been picked up by conventional techniques."

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