£1m facelift for crime scene investigation

A gangland drive-by shooting, a cot death or a hanging can all be in a day's work for the busy pathologist.

His role is crucial - to examine the bodies of people who have died in unnatural and suspicious circumstances to provide evidence for police investigations and inquests.

The Medico Legal Centre on Watery Street, Netherthorpe, can store more than 90 bodies at any one time. The busiest time ever for staff there was the aftermath of the Hillsborough football disaster in 1989, where post mortem examinations had to be carried out on every body before the inquest into their deaths could be held.

The centre, the only one of its kind in South and West Yorkshire and Humberside, is unique in that it offers a one-stop shop for forensic investigations into suspicious deaths with a pathology suite and laboratory under the same roof.

The centre's facilities mean results can be obtained quicker than if tests were carried out in a variety of labs all over the country.

It has been renowned in the field of homicide investigation for years and thanks to the state-of-the-art technology it now boasts after a 1 million upgrade its reputation is expected to continue to grow.

The new equipment in the forensic mortuary suite means all post-mortem examinations can now be video recorded in fine detail and referred back to if police or the coroner have queries at a later date.

For grieving families and friends, this means bodies can be released for funerals quicker than in the past.

Before the new suite was opened, police officers had to observe post-mortem examinations as they were carried out, but now they can look on from a viewing room elsewhere in centre and communicate with the pathologist via a telephone link.

Because all post mortems are now automatically videod, police officers needing to see an image immediately, before interviewing a prime suspect for example, can even have pictures sent to them from the centre electronically.

It is only more specialist forensic science tests that are carried out elsewhere, such as blood pattern analysis, although training in this field is given in the centre.

Professor Milroy, who has been a forensic pathologist for 17 years and is Professor of Forensic Pathology at Sheffield University, said the centre was "possibly the most advanced in the country".

"The Home Office had some money to invest and it has greatly improved our facilities for forensic work - the work we do as part of police investigations that goes towards solving crimes," he added.

"We have a modern facility that allows us to video record examinations now, reducing the need for us to hold bodies for so long, meaning relatives can arrange funerals sooner than in the past.

"We are also able to have police officers watching autopsies anywhere at all now, such as in a police station just before they are due to interview somebody, which speeds things up for them.

"In the past a senior investigating officer had to attend an autopsy, meaning they were isolated from the rest of their team at a time when things may have been developing rapidly, so this new way of working will allow them to fulfil both roles."

He said he has to remain impartial when carrying out post mortems and simply presents the evidence he uncovers.

"I am called in to investigate suspicious deaths. In every three cases, one will be a homicide or something such as a death in custody or in suspicious circumstances for example," he said.

"Sometimes I never get to find out the outcome of an investigation - I just have to be detached, present my evidence and give my opinion."