Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

Investigations into terror attacks, particularly those resulting in serious injuries and deaths, received a major boost yesterday when the British High Commission donated a Sh4.5 million forensic medical equipment.

The equipment will be vital in the investigation and eventual prosecution and includes mobile mortuary and post-mortem equipment, which will enable prompt investigations both at the scene of the attack and in the hospitals and mortuaries.

The British High Commissioner Jane Marriott yesterday said the equipment will increase the capacity of the Pathology and Forensic Unit at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), improve disaster response and support forensic investigations.

“The medical equipment will preserve and analyse crucial evidence needed to identify and convict terrorist, bringing them to justice,” she said.

“It will also help identify disaster victims and preserve their dignity, to prevent further suffering for grieving families,” she added.

Evidence analysis

According to experts, attention to injuries as well as photographic documentation of findings along with the recognition and recovery of trace evidence are critical parts of the autopsy on the victims of terrorist attacks.

Among the items donated include a portable mortuary fridge, 24 slats for mortuary table, six mortuary tables, six aluminium stepladders, 15 collapsible tables, 20 folding chairs and 300 body bags.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji said that while law enforcement agencies were involved in the collection of evidence, it was forensic science that deals with the analysis of the evidence in order to establish facts admissible in a court of law.

“The duties and responsibilities of a forensic expert in a criminal investigation is crucial as it involves the careful examination of evidence while ensuring that it is not tampered with,” Haji said.

Forensic evidence fulfills several roles in criminal investigations by proving that a crime has been committed, placing the suspect in contact with the victim or the crime scene and even establishing the identity of the persons associated with the crime.

Security installations

“Forensic evidence also helps in exonerating the innocent, corroborating a victim’s testimony and assisting in establishing the facts of what occurred,” Haji added.

The High Commissioner said the UK invests approximately Sh1billion every year in counterterrorism efforts in Kenya.

“This ranges from building the capacity of the criminal justice institutions through training and mentoring, to reinforcing Kenya’s ICT infrastructure such as through security installations investments at the Kahawa Law Court, Kenya’s first court dedicated to addressing terrorism,” she said.

Marriott added that UK was also supporting the construction of the new Coastal headquarters for the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) which is scheduled to be completed this year.

Haji noted the expertise of the forensic crime scene investigator is of paramount importance to the successful conduct of a serious criminal investigations.

The DPP notes that a number of issues including contamination, secondary transfer, cognitive bias, statistical manipulation, misinterpretation, analysis errors, testimony beyond the limit of science were some of the challenges of investigating such attacks and crime in general.