The use of forensic evidence by both the
prosecution and the defence
Forensic evidence can show only two things
but in a variety of ways. It can prove that the accused is guilty, or it
can prove that the accused is innocent of the crime for which he is on
trial. In this way, forensic science is exceedingly valuable.
An example of how useful such evidence can
be can be seen in the case of the murder of Paul Kingsley by Anthony
Sinclair. In this case, the victim, a nine year old boy named Paul
Kingsley, never turned up to Scouts one evening, nor did he return home
that night. His body was found soon after having been violated and
strangled.
Evidence was scarce, and the case was
investigated for a long time. It was noted that some fibres that were
found on the clothes of the boy did not belong to him or any of the
clothes in his wardrobe. They were analysed and it was discovered that
they originated from a factory in Switzerland.
The only people that used that type of
carpet fibre in that particular shade in Britain were a commercial
company. But it was discovered, after a long period of detective work
that an off-cut had been used to carpet Anthony Sinclair’s car. In
conjunction with other circumstantial evidence, this forensic evidence
led directly to the arrest of the accused, and finally to his conviction.