The Photographic and Fingerprint Department: Its Aid in Crime Detection
| Author | W. B. R. Morren |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X4301600107 |
| Date | 01 January 1943 |
| Published date | 01 January 1943 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
Photographic and Fingerprint
Department: Its Aid in Crime Detection
By W. B. R.
MORREN,
M.V.O.
Chief
Constable,
Edinburgh
City
Police
ILLUSTRATED
CASES,
No.2
ACASE INVOLVING FRACTURE OF GLASS
ON the night of February 5th, 1938, a man was found lying in the
ditch by a country road in Ross and Cromarty, suffering from a
head injury. Near him in the ditch stood a bicycle, the acetylene lamp
of which was still burning.
The
man was removed to hospital, where
he later died from injuries to the head in the region of the right eye
and eyebrow. He had been wearing spectacles and the right lens of
these was smashed.
On enquiry being made it was found that the mali had been
cycling from one village to another, about three miles distant, along
the road beside which he was found.
An examination of the roadway opposite the point where the man
was found revealed the tyre impressions of a motor vehicle which had
apparently been proceeding in the opposite direction to
that
in which
the man had been cycling. From the tyre tracks it was apparent that
the vehicle had been driven somewhat erratically, and at the point
where the deceased had been lying they approached within two feet
of the grass verge, showing that the vehicle had been travelling for
some yards on the wrong side of the road. At this point anumber of
pieces of glass were found lying on the roadway. Some of these were
obviously pieces of a driving mirror (see Fig. 3), while the others
were later found to be portions of a spectacle lens.
On enquiry being made it was found that, about the time the
deoeased had set out on his journey, amotor van had left the village to
which he was going, and this van must have met and passed him on
the way. As the driver of the van was known to have. been drinking
heavily that evening, it was suspected that his van might have collided
with the deceased. On being interviewed by the police he pled ignorance
of the occurrence. An examination was made of the van, when it was
found that the driving mirror fitted to the offside door of the driving
cabin was broken, there being only one large portion of the mirror left
in the holder (see Fig. 2). Another smaller piece of mirror was found
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