Students work on grisly trail

Feb 8 2008 by Jule Wilson, The Journal

STUDENTS in Newcastle became crime scene investigators this week as a fake murder was staged in the city.

Blood, chip wrappers and fingerprints were among the evidence pointing to the culprit of the “murder”, which happened at Newcastle College’s Rye Hill campus yesterday.

The college’s applied scientists wore protective suits and plastic shoes to collect and examine evidence from the crime scene as part of their final assessment.

The students will end this year having earned a national diploma in applied science and a collection of practical skills to help them in jobs including photography, criminal psychology and microscopy.

Course leader Jane Britton, 44, explained why the new technique, which was piloted last year, is proving useful to employers.

She said: “There is a shortage of applied scientists across the region because traditionally the focus on science has been very academic.

“However, experience like this gives the students a chance to put what they’ve learned in the lab and the lecture theatre into practice and develop real skills to make them assets to the working world.” The final-year students, most of whom have already completed a foundation course in applied science, each spent 20 minutes at the “crime scene” collecting and processing evidence.

Ms Britton said: “They have put themselves into teams, so one person may be trying to find fingerprints while someone else is sketching the scene.

“It shows people who may be taken in by glamorous TV shows such as NCIS and CSI what a long and arduous process it really is and how difficult it can be to lift a usable fingerprint, for example.”

Student Rabia Saleem, 18, of Ridley Avenue, Blyth, Northumberland, has chosen pharmacy as her future career. She said: “It’s a bit overwhelming to finally be in the crime scene because there is so much to catalogue and so much to remember.

“It’s our first real practical experience and time is of the essence, but it’s really interesting. I really enjoyed it.”

Simone Robinson, 32, of St Helen’s Lane, Corbridge, Northumberland, is planning to go on to Northumbria University to complete a degree in criminology and forensic science next year.

She said: “It’s hard to explain how interesting it was to be in there because it’s what I’ve always wanted to do, so the whole 20 minutes was a bit of an adrenalin rush.

“It has made me all the more sure that I want to become a scenes of crime officer.”