Scientific Evidence as a Sequel to a Black-Out Accident
| Date | 01 October 1940 |
| Published date | 01 October 1940 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X4001300409 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Scientific Evidence as a Sequel to
aBlack-out Accident
By
CHIEF
INSPECTOR W. R.
JONES
Birkenhead Police
ANinteresting case occurred in Birkenhead where the
evidence of the Director of the North-Western Forensic
Science Laboratory was probably the deciding factor in
securing a conviction against a motorist who had knocked
down and injured three pedestrians in the black-out, and
failed to stop after the accident.
At about ten minutes past midnight on the
znd
March,
1940, a fireman and two girl friends were going home from a
dance and were crossing a road from right to left in diagonal
fashion, when a car ran into them from behind and injured all
three, two of them seriously.
The
car drove on and did not
stop despite a flash signal and a shout by another fireman
who was walking about 80 yards ahead.
The
injured people were conveyed to hospital and a few
minutes later a constable arrived on the scene of the accident.
It
was a particularly black night and he made a search of the
vicinity with the aid of his torch. He found amotor-car
number-plate.
That
was all,
but
it seemed like a veritable
visiting card.
The
only disturbing feature was that the plate
was rather old and decrepit, the broken part of the metal
attachment was rusty, and obviously the break from the
original fixed position on the car had occurred a long time
previously.
The
plate showed no sign of recent damage.
The
road is a very busy one and the plate might quite possibly have
come from a vehicle which was not involved in the accident.
Nevertheless such a clue was, of course, pursued with
diligence.
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