Rushden Photo Gallery

Fingerprints - 27 June 2013

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with thanks to John Dingemans 

Anyone interested in crime missed a very informative meeting last night if they weren't at Village Link when Martin Leadbetter spoke on The Forensics of Fingerprinting, its past, present and future. It has been known about since the 17th century but it wasn't until the turn of the last century that it was adopted by police forces across the world. Currently one in ten people in Britain have their fingerprints on file. They are used not just for establishing guilt but also innocence, identity and even for telling fakes from the real thing.

About 30 people enjoyed the talk on the history and use of fingerprints by Martin Leadbetter. He has travelled the world in his job and amongst others identified the fingerprints of Ian Huntley. We learned how to ‘read’ fingerprints and how criminals are sometimes caught by very simple mistakes, such as wearing gloves with a hole! We also saw the fingerprints of Al Capone.

with thanks to John Dingemans and Alan Nesbitt