A new finding shows in a physical assault scenario, about 1,000 to 44,000 fibres could cross-transferred between the clothes of a victim and their assaulter.
According to the study from Northumbria University and King’s College London in the UK, the amount could vary with the substantial changes between different attack circumstances.
Knowledge of the number of fibres transmitted during physical activity is vital in the interpretation of forensic evidence in many criminal cases.
Previous research has shed light on how factors such as increased duration and pressure during physical contact can affect the amount of fibres that transmit. The degree and diversity of fibre transfer in uncontrolled conditions, including real-life events, is, nevertheless, a little unclear.
Kelly Sheridan, Assistant Professor of Forensic Science in the Department of Applied Sciences at Northumbria University, believes the findings will assist cover a knowledge gap in the forensic field.
“We wanted to investigate the extent of fibre transfer during different types of physical assaults using real people for the first time”, Sheridan explained.
Their finding has been published in the journal Science & Justice.
This study examined the fire transfer that occurs between clothes during physical attacks by replicating the act with a member of Northumbria’s Jiu-Jitsu club.
The members of the club were invited to play the role of an aggressor and victim in four simulated scenarios that included high and low-intensity activities over a varying time duration.
Professor Sheridan said, “Primarily, what this has demonstrated is that the sheer quantity of fibres found to transfer are far greater than anything previously published”.
The lead coach of Northumbria’s Jiu-Jitsu, David Chalton remarked, “Our style of Jiu-Jitsu covers striking, throwing and to a lesser extent ground-fighting. We focus on a self-defence approach, so the situations Sheridan wanted to simulate were quite straightforward and familiar for us”.
“The methodology we employed in this study provides a more robust assessment of the effects caused by actual physical assault scenarios, than any existing similar study available to forensic practitioners”, stated Ray Palmer, an independent forensic science consultant and Associate Lecturer at Northumbria who collaborated with Sheridan to develop the research concept.
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