Lord Advocate hails Scotland’s world leading crime campus

The Lord Advocate has hailed Scotland’s crime campus as world leading and praised its “outstanding” team.

Frank Mulholland QC said the work of the team at the Gartcosh campus has taken forensic capabilities further than he thought possible when he first established the cold case unit in 2011.

He added: “As well as groundbreaking DNA techniques, we have access to the top soil scientist in the world and the top forensic anthropologist.

“Soil scientist Lorna Dawson is searching for the most likely place to find where Moira Anderson’s body was hidden 58 years ago after she disappeared in Coatbridge.

“Forensic anthropologist Professor Sue Black is renowned worldwide for her expertise and work identifying remains from mass graves in Kosovo. She is developing techniques to identify suspects using unique features in their hands, much in the way we use fingerprints.

“The professor is also investigating the possibility of using the unique features in sexual organs to track down paedophiles who attack children and share images.

“Work like that is the reason we have some of the world’s top crimefighters coming to Scotland to see what we’ve achieved.”

The work of the crime campus was highlighted earlier this month when Robert Hughes, head of the FBI’s violent crime unit and Professor Christophe Champod, a Swiss fingerprint expert joined a conference on the developments being made at Gartcosh.

Mr Mulholland said: “We have a duty to victims, their families and the public to prosecute cold cases where we can.

“Growing up in Coatbridge, I knew all about Moira Anderson and the efforts to find her after she disappeared in 1957. The original investigation didn’t have the forensic tools we now have access to, nor the psychological profile of this type of killer and crime.”

The Lord Advocate added: “I met Moira’s sister Janet Hart in Sydney last year and reassured her we won’t give up looking.

“A recent review of statements shone new light on a potential witness sighting of a large man seen carrying a heavy sack-like bundle over the brow of the hill towards a canal the morning after Moira disappeared.

“We’ll use that information to choose the site with the most potential for Lorna Dawson to begin her work early next year.”