Expert Witness Features – page 41

Textiles and Fraud

by JULIAN ELLIS OBE M.Phil C.Text FTI MRSC MAE, Chartered Textile Technologist

THE TWO TYPES of case described below indicate some of the wide range of cases that the textile technologist can deal with.

Counterfeit textiles are big business, because of the mark-up on some branded goods. When examining items in relation to counterfeiting prosecutions, the task is particularly difficult if there has been a delay between the seizure of the allegedly counterfeit goods by Trading Standards and the request for expert examination from the defence. The problem arises because countersamples from an impeccable source are much more difficult to obtain, as the season may have changed and identical goods are no longer available. Therefore examination must take place comparing similar goods.

How we can bridge the generation gap

JOE HOY, of Focus Forensic Telecommunications Ltd, explains the new challenges for the analyst of 3G mobile phone systems.

The second generation (2G) GSM mobile phone system was released on an unsuspecting world in the early 1990s – unsuspecting in the sense that no-one understood the profound changes to personal communications that were about to happen.

Sorting the mail could be a good starting point for evidence gathering

ADRIAN PALMER, director of Palmer Legal Technologies, explains how organising an IT system can help with disclosure.

Email continues to be one of the most pervasive and critical of business tools. Virtually every client of a law firm, whether large or small, will rely upon email as a primary means of communication. Employment, regulatory and litigation specialists should all be familiar with the need to search for and review their client's email 'documents'.