Forensics: The Real CSI

A parent rings 999 to report that their 12-year-old daughter has been approached by a man on social media and has been raped by him several times. West Midlands Police quickly identify and arrest the suspect and bring him into custody. As the victim was too scared to tell anyone at first, there is limited physical forensic evidence. The investigation therefore has to rely heavily on digital forensics, and the police attempt to hack into the suspect's phones.

At midday on a busy high street in Birmingham, a group of armed robbers drive a truck into a jewellery shop, stealing £300,000 worth of gold. They escape in less than 60 seconds. Forensic scene investigator Drew Birtles is dispatched to the jewellery shop to recover any forensic clues which could help identify the robbers. The investigation becomes more challenging when no real forensic evidence is found at the crime scene and the robbers switch cars - leaving the trail to go cold. Suspects are identified, and investigators hope that forensic evidence from the cars could provide the vital information needed to help solve the case and bring down the thieves.

West Midlands Police need forensics to identify the killer of two men found dead in a car. Police respond to a call of a shooting in a carpark. As dusk sets in, crime-scene coordinator Simon Flanaghan attends to find a car set back from the road, with multiple bullet holes and two men dead inside.

Forensic scene investigator Drew Birtles is deployed to lead the search for evidence after a woman in her 50s phones 999 to allege that an engineer who visited her home by appointment to fit a smart meter has indecently exposed himself. Facing a case that is difficult to prove, Drew sets to work using forensic light sources and DNA evidence to build a picture of what went on in the woman’s house.

A 34-year-old man is fatally stabbed as he visits a group of friends who are socialising in one of the bedrooms of a multi-occupancy property in Birmingham. With vital evidence compromised during the attempts by paramedics to save his life, detectives use CCTV and financial transactions to track their suspect and apprehend him just before he boards an international flight out of the country. The forensic team employ a mixture of traditional and digital methods to try to determine whether or not the witnesses are telling the truth.

On a Monday afternoon in an affluent Birmingham suburb, a husband rings 999 to say he has killed his wife. The man is covered in blood when he is arrested outside his home but when he is brought to police custody and interviewed, he initially claims not to remember anything. Both houses are sealed off and it’s the job of crime scene coordinator Jo Ward to lead the search for forensic clues that could prove or disprove the suspect’s account. Forensic scientist Phil Field goes to the scene to carry out Blood Pattern Analysis to help map out the sequence of events surrounding the attacks. The investigation takes a significant turn when digital forensics experts manage to crack the suspect’s mobile and an insight into his motive is revealed.

In central Newcastle, a teenage girl has been raped by a stranger in a local park. It is the job of Northumbria Police's head of forensics Kirsty Potter and senior investigating officer Shelley Hudson to find the unknown suspect and put him behind bars as quickly as possible. With every hour that passes the chances of obtaining forensic evidence reduce and intimate forensic samples from the teenager who has been raped are fast-tracked to a specialist lab in order to try and identify the suspect. A scour of local CCTV identifies a man wearing the same distinctive jacket as the teenager described. Alongside the traditional forensic search for body fluids, DNA and fibres, the police also deploy the rapidly evolving skills of their digital forensic team. Criminals may think they can withhold passwords and delete incriminating search histories from their computers, tablets and smart phones, but it won’t give head of digital media Jerry Hewitt and his team too much difficulty.

The forensics team must identify a gunman from evidence left at a shooting scene and determine the cause of death of a body found under suspicious circumstances.