The Photographing of Finger Impressions on Mirrors
| Date | 01 April 1956 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X5602900207 |
| Published date | 01 April 1956 |
| Author | W. E. Crookes |
| Subject Matter | Article |
PHOTOGRAPHING
FINGER
IMPRESSIONS ON
MIRRORS
119
and order were against the weight of evidence, and that he was not
guilty. The appeal was heard at the West Sussex Quarter Sessions on
the 12th May, 1955. After legal argument concerning the appeal
against the order made under section 2 of the Dogs Act 1871, the
learned chairman ruled that he could not hear the appeal, as it appeared
that
there was no legal right to appeal against such an order. This
appeal was, therefore, withdrawn.
The appeal against conviction under section 1 of the Dogs (Protec-
tion of Livestock) Act 1953 was dismissed with costs against the
appellant. The appellant sought to show that the blood found on the
shoulders of his dog, 'Tarzan,' was blood from the head of a sheep
which he had given it to eat,
but
for this defence to be valid the blood
adhering to the hair of the dog should have been in a congealed state,
when deposited, coming as it was supposed to have done from a dead
animal. Mr. Sweet, the Principal Scientific Officer of the Forensic
Science Laboratory, New Scotland Yard, was able to show that the
blood on the dog was
not
in a congealed state when deposited, and
that it had in fact come from a living animal.
Such is a short resume of an investigation that was brought to a
successful conclusion. The enquiries would not have been successful
without the valuable assistance rendered by the staff of the Forensic
Science Laboratory, New Scotland Yard.
In conclusion, it is of interest to note that one of the dogs con-
cerned in this bad case of sheep-worrying was a previous 'suspect,'
who on the l Sth August, 1952, caused its owner to appear before the
magistrates for being the owner of a dog that had attacked cattle.
On this occasion the case was dismissed owing to the lack of evidence
to identify the dog as the one responsible for the attack.
The
Photographing
of
Finger
Impressions
on
Mirrors
By
CONSTABLE
W. E. CROOKES,
Nottinghamshire Constabulary.
SINCE Crime Photography was first practised the finger impression
on a mirror has proved a stumbling block to many police photo-
graphers. Successful photographs can be obtained, usually by photo-
graphing each print separately, taking care that the individual print is
perfectly centred to avoid the secondary image caused by the reflection.
A simpler method is to scrape the "silver" from the rear
of
the mirror,
but
in many cases the mirror is too valuable to be tampered with, or
situated in such a position that it is impracticable. Many are the other
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