19th November 2010
Modern Forensic Science
by Dr. Ron Dixon, Head of Forensic and Biomedical Sciences,
University of Lincoln
Dr. Dixon is Head of the School of Forensic and
Biomedical Sciences at the University of Lincoln. He began his lecture by
reminding his audience of the existence of the University of Lincoln and what a
fantastic institution it is.
The lecture gave a description of the different branches of forensic science that are taught at Lincoln but running through the whole talk was an account, in stages, of a particular crime that was committed in Lincoln. This involved the disappearance of a young woman and the discovery of body parts in weighted bags at different places in the River Witham. The lecture was illustrated, but perhaps mericifully we only have Dr. Dixon's word for what was in the bags shown colourfully and large on the big screen behind him. At first the search of the river had failed to discover the victim's head but then Police divers found a skull with holes in the back that were clearly the result of an attack. Forensic science went to work and it came to light that the skull was from Roman times. In due course the modern victim's head was found but Dr. Dixon chose to keep his description verbal. Towards the end of his lecture, Dr. Dixon gave an account of an archaeological excavation of a mediaeval burial ground in the basement of a house in Lincoln An incredible number of burials were found in a small area. The excavation was spread over two years and was used as a training exercise for forensic science students. The lecture was followed by an interesting session of questions in which DNA was a prominent subject, possibly a subject of another lecture on its own.
The lecture gave a description of the different branches of forensic science that are taught at Lincoln but running through the whole talk was an account, in stages, of a particular crime that was committed in Lincoln. This involved the disappearance of a young woman and the discovery of body parts in weighted bags at different places in the River Witham. The lecture was illustrated, but perhaps mericifully we only have Dr. Dixon's word for what was in the bags shown colourfully and large on the big screen behind him. At first the search of the river had failed to discover the victim's head but then Police divers found a skull with holes in the back that were clearly the result of an attack. Forensic science went to work and it came to light that the skull was from Roman times. In due course the modern victim's head was found but Dr. Dixon chose to keep his description verbal. Towards the end of his lecture, Dr. Dixon gave an account of an archaeological excavation of a mediaeval burial ground in the basement of a house in Lincoln An incredible number of burials were found in a small area. The excavation was spread over two years and was used as a training exercise for forensic science students. The lecture was followed by an interesting session of questions in which DNA was a prominent subject, possibly a subject of another lecture on its own.