3rd Edition – Symptoms and Signs of Substance Misuse

Now trained as an Appraiser with a successful FFLM course at the Royal College of Physicians.  Usual sessions day and night as  Forensic Medical Examiner for Metropolitan Police.  Off to Strasbourg for the preliminary meeting of experts looking at protocols for examination of people who have been trafficked.  A fascinating day with wide-ranging discussion which will we hope lead on to clear protocols to assist this unfortunate group, by providing those undertaking such assessments with consistent tools that are applicable across Europe. Possibly also the first group selfie in the ECHR (see below).   Only slightly marred by an incident on the railway line stopping trains to Frankfurt which resulted in the need to take a 250km taxi ride from Offenberg to Frankfurt, missing my flight  by 10 minutes.  Was invited to a fascinating talk on the adventurer/mountaineer/sailor Bill Tilman at Arthur Beale Ltd, the most land-locked ships chandler in the world (in Shaftesbury Avenue, London).  Three court cases which have been diarised for > 6 months cancelled on day, because of lack of court time, a plea and no evidence (all entirely predictable).  Those of us who are part of  the International Forensic Expert Group of IRCT have this week published an important news statement on ‘virginity testing’.   This is the third consensus statement (the others being on hooding and access to medical, healthcare and legal  records) and like those is relevant to many practitioners.   The AGM of the Civil Mediation Council was held at Linklaters (I suspect from their rather magnificent offices that criminal law plays little part in their day to day work), and reported the change in structure to CMC Ltd. Let us hope now that’s out of the way that the CMC can address the shambles that appears to be mediation today.    The Al-Sweady Inquiry – for which I provided evidence has now been published.  The findings are robust and should be read.  Met with Dr Sanjeev Lalwani, who practices  Forensic Medicine at the All India Institute of  Medical Sciences, and former MSc in Forensic Medicine student Amne Osseyran who is now studying medicine.   Meeting at Portcullis House with Dr Sarah Wollaston MP,  Chair of the Health Select Committee.   The criminal case regarding the death of Jimmy Mubenga (for which I also provided evidence) was also concluded this week.   Apart from the regular NE London FME Audit meeting which addressed matters of appropriate adults and intimate searches we had an interesting dialogue with the project lead for transfer of Metropolitan Police forensic healthcare services to the NHS.  Interesting to see how such an exercise is undertaken.   Finally a meeting with future officers of the Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine.    ‘Forensic Gynaecology’ edited by Maureen Dalton in which I contributed a co-authored chapter (with James Bloomer) on Court Skills has just been published, whilst Symptoms and Signs of Substance Misuse continues to fly off the shelves.  The week to finish with the Forensic Healthcare Services team 15th Xmas Dinner.

Forensic Gynaecology

ECHR December 2014 – Trafficking Experts