Alistair Kelman foresees that specialist IT knowledge will play a greater role in convictions
Sometimes a single piece of hidden evidence can win a case.
In 2003 Dr Harold Shipman was jailed for life for murdering 15 patients. Subsequently an inquiry, under Dame Janet Smith, positively ascribed 218 murders to him, although the number may well be higher.
The sole irrefutable piece of evidence at his trial was a forensic examination of his patient records system.
This evidence showed that, after having killed someone, Shipman amended that patient’s record by backdating and inserting a false history of an illness which could be blamed for the death.
But unbeknown to him, the operating system of his computer kept multiple hidden logs of dates of amendment. A forensic examination of the computer gave the prosecution the evidence they needed for a conviction.
Disclosure
This autumn the world of forensic science and computing imaging is going to impinge upon the reality of the ordinary litigation solicitor.
A new Practice Direction and a new E-Disclosure Questionnaire
