Breakthrough
forensic research at Northumbria University, Newcastle, has revealed for the
first time that textile fibres can, under certain circumstances, be transferred
between clothing in the absence of contact.
This new forensic
discovery has not been demonstrated before and could have a major implication
for fibre evidence in certain criminal cases.
Researchers
within Northumbria University’s Department of Applied Sciences have proved that contactless transfer of fibres between garments can
be possible through airborne travel.
Because it has largely been assumed that fibre transfer only
occurs when two surfaces touch, it is generally accepted in a case that two
surfaces have, at some point, been in contact with each other. However,
researchers at Northumbria University have revealed that under certain
conditions, this is not necessarily always the case.
Dr Kelly Sheridan, who led the research at Northumbria University,
said: “Our experiment was simple but efficient. We used fluorescently tagged
fibres to track their airborne transfer between clothing. Everyday tagged
clothes – jumpers, long sleeved tops and fleeces - were worn by two people who
stood in opposite corners of an elevator.
“The elevator operated as normal and non-participants of the study
entered and exited as usual. Following the experiment, the surfaces of the
recipient’s clothing were photographed using UV-imagery techniques to determine
the number of fibres that were transferred from one person to the other.
“The results of the study were remarkable. It not only proved that
textile fibres can transfer between garments in the absence of contact, but
they can do so in relatively high numbers.”
In this study,
the potential of fibre transfer between different items of sheddable clothing
through airborne travel has been assessed for small, compact and semi-enclosed
spaces, such as elevators.
The results of
this study demonstrate that when certain strict conditions are met (i.e. time, sheddability of garment, proximity and
confined space), airborne transfer of fibres can occur in forensic scenarios, and
that these could be in potentially significant numbers for fibre types, such as
cotton and polyester.
The results of
this study define a set of circumstances that can be used as a ‘baseline’ to
evaluate the likelihood of an alleged activity being conducive to contactless
transfer.
Textile fibres
are one of forensic sciences’ fundamental evidence types and have been pivotal
in solving some of the UK’s most notorious crimes; for example, the murders of
Stephen Lawrence and Joanna Yeates, as well as the Ipswich serial killings.
Establishing
textile fibre links, however, is only half the battle, according to fellow
Northumbria researcher, and co-author on the paper, Dr Matteo Gallidabino.
“What is equally, if not more, important, is how that fibre was
transferred from one surface to another,” he said. “This research shows that
airborne transfer is viable in a number of case scenarios
despite previous beliefs and could explain the presence of fibres on a variety
of surfaces.”
Dr Ray Palmer, a visiting academic and former senior lecturer in
forensics at Northumbria University and co-author on this research paper, has given evidence at numerous high-profile trials,
including that of the so-called Suffolk Strangler in England and the Claremont
serial killings in Western Australia.
He said: “This study was designed so that the
experimental parameters were as conducive to contactless transfer as possible,
whilst still maintaining a real-life scenario.
“Since there is a paucity of published studies
relating to contactless transfer, the results obtained from this study will be
useful to forensic practitioners as a ’baseline’, in evaluating how likely it
is that a proposed activity or case circumstance has resulted in contactless
transfer.”
The paper – ‘A study on contactless airborne transfer of textile fibres between different garments in small compact semi-enclosed spaces’ - will be published in Forensic Science International on Friday August 14, 2020. The full study can be found online here.
