News release: Chamber of Horrors? No, this is a Houseful

Abstract

When Mark Hendrick MP has a tour of the Department of Forensic and Investigative
Science at the University of Central Lancashire on Friday 14 March, he is in for a
shock.
After a guided tour of the labs and state-of-the-art-facilities, he will be taken to a house
on Maudland Street which the University uses for simulations of crime scenes. What he
meets there ~Ht be enough to keep Crimewatch in programmes for months.
(_ Cl.<,.U{
UCLAN was the first university to develop a crime scene house so that their Forensic
students get first hand experience and a real feel for the work they are training for. The
first house quickly outgrew its premises as students needed more and more practical
space in which to work, so now two houses have been converted into different scenes,
ranging from routine domestic breaking and entering, to more dramatic crime scenes,
such as murder.
The settings include living rooms, kitchens, a public bar, a post office and a special
room which is only unlocked for students nearing the end of their degree studies! Even
the bathroom is a crime scene, where bloody evidence of a murder can be recorded and
interpreted to train students in blood splatter pattern techniques.
The house is a vital learning space for students on the BSc(Hons) Degree in Forensic
Science and the BSc(Hons) Police and Criminal Investigation degree; the Foundation
Degree in Forensic Science and Masters Degrees in DNA Profiling and Human
Remains Identification.
Mark Hendrick MP will get the chance to look around the various scenes as part of his
visit to the University on Friday 14 March. He will arrive at the crime scene house at
2.30pm to perform a brief official opening before examining the evidence inside.
12th March, 2003
NR021MD
-ends-
Note to editors: Mark Hendrick will be at the crime scene house between 2.30 and
3pm on Friday 141
h March 2003. Photographs and interviews can be arranged by
contacting Maureen Dearden in the Media and PR Office on 01772 894424 or Lee
Chatfield in the Department of Forensic and Investigative Science 01772 894381.