Leicesters contribution to forensic history featured by BBC

BBC4’s new three-part documentary series exploring the history and development of forensic science includes contributions from academics at the University of Leicester, including Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys discussing his invention of DNA fingerprinting.

Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story sees surgeon and writer Gabriel Weston examine the landmark cases in developing forensic techniques, as well as future developments that are on the horizon. In the first episode of the series she interviews Professor Jeffreys about using his discovery to solve a crime for the first time and the process he went through on that first case.

Also featured in the accompanying extra clips available on the BBC website is Dr John Bond from our Department of Criminology discussing his work on fingerprint analysis.

Part two of Catching History's Criminals is broadcast on 25 June while part three, which will feature the Department of Engineering's Professor Sarah Hainsworth, is broadcast on 2 July. All episodes will be available on the BBC iPlayer.

Photo gallery from Professor Jeffreys' interview with the BBC: