76 LAWYER MONTHLY EXPERT WITNESS AWARDS 2025 Application of our trademark highly detailed analysis of both forensic and also circumstantial evidence, as a combined approach to hair strand drug testing in family cases, was also successful (e.g. in D, 2024, EWCA, Civ 498) (as detailed further above); and it would appear that this is likely to be the way forward in all forensic casework investigation involving trace analysis. This situation reminds me that some of the very best results have been obtained under the highest pressures, at the extreme of intellectual effort, such as a firm (Roxel) spared a 5 million pound fine and the need to relocate an entire operation abroad. This being prevented by reflection, on the morning of the trial, of the fifth and last HSE challenge, (which had eluded solution until then), and the creation of a single critical paragraph, while sitting at the computer in a hotel bedroom, with the early morning sun, refreshing breeze and birdsong entering the open balcony windows, and with a panoramic view of the midcountry from the Malvern Hills. A further remarkable challenge occurred as a result of the recent collapse of the Court system and also barristers’ strike delaying trials and instructions, and where at the critical moment when I was completing the main report in an over 400 hour explosive case, I had to halt work and, from zero, prepare Interestingly, the last three such forward alcohol calculations, based on declared consumption, have been within 2% of the levels found by evidential breath analysis, and I wait upon further casework to see if this level of correlation is capable of being sustained. Insurance cases, especially in explosive matters, (instruction being specified due to my unique combination of forensic and military experience) have also been highlights, such as the salvage of the hazardous material carrier MS Bow Diamond (500 tonnes of TNT and RDX spilled in a storm), and the Exeter WW II unexploded bomb, where high order detonation occurred in a built up area during the EOD make safe process. “Some of the most conclusive breakthroughs in my career have come not from the lab, but from walking the scene, reading between the lines, and seeing what others missed — often under crushing deadlines and with nothing but instinct, science, and experience to guide me.”
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