Notable Cases

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Tachograph Fraud

I undertook an investigation into a road haulage company suspected of falsifying tachograph records to allow drivers to work longer hours.

The enquiry involved tracing, securing and cataloguing approximately ten thousand exhibits. It involved visits to distribution premises around the country to collect documentary exhibits and take to statements from operators.

In respect of the vehicles and drivers I organised and collated silent checks on the moving vehicles before examining them to find the wiring and switches used to prevent the tachograph from reading.

All of the drivers and owner/operators were interviewed and ultimately pleaded guilty at Crown Court.

Jet Car

I was appointed as the Lead Collision Investigator to the Top Gear Jet Car crash.

In addition to recording the accident scene, all the marks, and the debris I had to research and examine jet-powered cars.

The collision was reconstructed using video (BBC) and excellent telematics (Racelogic) which revealed a sudden, catastrophic tyre failure.

I coordinated the examination of the tyre with a forensic examiner, David Letall Price, and researched the history of the batch and the specific tyre. This took me on a journey to the USA (not in person) and back to Lancashire.

The near-side front tyre suffered an incomplete penetration that allowed the plies to separate which in turn led to the failure. Although the puncture in itself was tiny (not much bigger than one made by a drawing pin), the build-up of heat and centripetal forces overcame the tyre's structure.

Having crashed at 289mph the driver was very lucky to survive - testimony not to what went wrong but to all of the things that went right.

High Value Claim

I was asked to advise on a very high-value injury claim following a criminal case which involved a fatality. The client was facing a significant financial claim for injuries, the claim having arisen largely from the criminal investigation.

In this instance the Police had examined but dismissed vital event data from the client's vehicle. I was able to secure a copy of the data which showed that the driver began to turn when the 'innocent' vehicle was out of sight but travelling too fast.

Although the criminal conviction was effectively spent the client was able to re-assign responsibility for the financial settlement to one of the other vehicle insurers.