Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd

Author:Dr Richard Shepherd
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781405923552
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2018-07-17T16:00:00+00:00

20

By now I was beginning to suspect that my attempts to reconstruct homicides from the track of stab wounds might just be eclipsed by a technique which had recently appeared on the distant periphery of forensic work. People had started to talk about DNA testing. DNA, they said, would be a better means of identification than fingerprinting or any of our other current methods. We discussed it in the pub during one of our raucous office Friday lunchtimes, our debate leaking into the afternoon, the secretaries and technicians all joining in. Was DNA the future? Or one of those technological advances which would have no workable application for years and years?

The new developments did make me wonder if my special interest in the track of stab wounds would soon be so old-fashioned it would help no one. My fascination with the idea did not abate but it happened that at around that time another specialization seemed to find me. At first I tried to ignore it, but somehow it managed to kick me hard in a vulnerable place I scarcely knew I had: my social conscience. I did think I already worked for society: forensic pathologists helped families and state to understand the dead and so find justice, didn’t they? I was rather slow to take on board the idea that I personally might have a more direct role to play in bringing about social change.

Working closely with the police at the scene of a crime was a part of my job. Their professionalism and camaraderie made the chaos, blood, filth and human tragedy of the average homicide a lot easier to deal with. When I had a good relationship with the officers involved they sometimes kept me informed as their investigations progressed, and I valued that.

How hard it was, then, to bear witness to another sort of policing. One that had little in common with the dignified, serious men and women I encountered.

On arriving at a hospital mortuary for a post-mortem one night, the information I was given at the briefing was a bit sketchy. I soon gathered why. The patient had died while in the care of the prison system. I noticed that there was no banter or small talk as we changed and walked into the post-mortem room to examine the body.

The deceased was a twenty-eight-year-old Nigerian. An external examination revealed abrasions on the front of his nose and around the lips. I saw he had recent bruising to his arms and particularly around his wrists, as well as on his abdomen.

I said, ‘So was he wearing a body belt when he died?’

They nodded glumly.

A body belt is an unattractive contraption consisting of a thick, heavy, leather belt with handcuffs passing through a ring on each side. The belt, of course, goes around the abdomen and the wrists are attached to it by the handcuffs.

When I examined the deceased internally I found that he had severe atheroma (furring up of the arteries) but only in one place:

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