Crime scene investigators could soon be treading new ground in Huddersfield.
The town’s university has launched the world’s first post-graduate degree in forensic podiatry, the study of footprints.
Along with DNA analysis and fingerprints, footprints can also pinpoint offenders thanks to the unique wear and tear on shoes and boots.
The part-time MSc course is up and running at the University of Huddersfield, led by one of the world’s leading forensic podiatrists Prof Wesley Vernon.
Regularly consulted by investigators in Europe, Australia and the USA, Prof Vernon has also researched a paper on the fancy footwork of renowned detective Sherlock Holmes.
Prof Vernon said there was increasing awareness of the value of the science and added: “In the mid-1990s I was getting maybe one or two cases a year. Now I am getting requests for assistance most weeks so it has increased quite dramatically.”
Prof Vernon, said the four main disciplines were: gait analysis; the use of podiatrists’ records for identification; the analysis of bare footprints at scenes of crime; and examination of the “wear features” of shoes.
Prof Vernon added: “There might be shoe prints at the scene of crime. The police have a suspect and can match the shoes to the crime scene but the suspect might say ‘yes I know you got that shoe from my house but it’s not mine.’
“DNA often fails or may not be helpful in these circumstances but we can use the wear features of shoes to assist in the process of identification.”
Forensic podiatrists also look at a person’s gait, or how they walk, examining CCTV footage to link them to a crime.
Prof Vernon is also head of podiatry services at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Less seriously, his research work has also included a review article on the strange case of Sherlock Holmes, Forensic Podiatrist.
The professor analysed the fictional detective’s use of footprint evidence deciding where he got it right – or wrong.
So was Mr Holmes an expert or a charlatan? “He certainly made some basic mistakes,” said Prof Vernon.
