Gunshot residue (GSR) is one of the most heavily scrutinised types of trace evidence in criminal investigations; there is very little challenge in court as to whether the particles have originated from a firearm or an environmental source but of more crucial importance is the question of how did they get there?

Angela will be giving us a whistle stop tour of GSR as an evidence type, how it is formed, deposited, analysed and interpreted within the context of a case. This will lead on to areas within the interpretation that can be open to challenge illustrated using some cases that Angela has been instructed on, within the UK and abroad.

Angela Shaw
BSc (Hons) MCSFS, MEWI 

Angela is a GSR expert with almost 20 years’ experience in the identification and interpretation of GSR findings. She has been instructed in some of the most complex and high profile cases in the UK and in a number of British Overseas Territories and her work has been crucial in several case reviews leading to murder convictions being quashed.

Previously employed as the Principal Forensic Scientist for GSR for the Forensic Science Service (FSS), she is now Co-Director of the Forensic Firearms Consultancy Ltd and Principal Forensic Services Ltd.

Her attention to detail and professionalism makes Angela the preferred expert in extremely complicated cases and those involving low levels of GSR and potential cross-contamination. She is a very adept and highly respected expert witness.

Angela has assisted the UK Home Office Forensic Regulator in drafting the Appendices to the Codes of Practice and Conduct for GSR examination, is a Professional Member of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences and an Individual Member of the Expert Witness Institute.

Registration is free and open to students and  professionals and will be open soon.

Please note that this event will be preceded by our Annual General Meeting (AGM) which starts at 18:30

Date: 12th November, 2020
Venue: Online Event (Zoom)

Bloodstain pattern analysis is a discipline within forensic science that deals with the examination and identification of bloodstains, and the evaluation of those bloodstains to attempt to establish the activities that may have caused them. Because there is a direct requirement for blood, BPA is inextricably linked to violent crime.