Forensics, Coroners and Decomposition

Determining the cause and manner of suspicious deaths is highly technical work, dependent on crime scene findings, autopsy observations, toxicology tests and a close analysis of medical files.

DR PETER DEAN will explore the history of death investigation in this country, looking at how the system developed from its early days in Medieval England, through the centuries to the current day, also taking a look at the first use of forensic science and pathology.

Taphonomy, the study of decaying organisms, is an essential tool in the crime-solving process, where determining the time of death can be crucial to an investigation.

Forensic anthropologist, DR ANNA WILLIAMS, will discuss the various stages of decomposition, describing how different combinations of gases are emitted at each stage of the process and how these observations are measured at crime scenes and autopsies. She will also make the case for opening a 'body farm' in the UK to allow decaying corpses to be scientifically studied.

Tickets £12 including a Hendrick's Gin Cocktail.