Patricia Wiltshire on how pollen can solve crimes.

The Life Scientific

BBC

Technology, Personal Journals, Society & Culture, Science

4.6 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 7 January 2020

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

Patricia Wiltshire grew up in a mining village in South Wales, left home when she was 17 and worked for many years, first as a medical technician and then as a business secretary (a profession her first husband considered to be more ladylike). When she was studying botany A level at evening classes, her teacher encouraged her to apply for university as a mature student. (She would never have considered it otherwise). And so began her career as a palynologist (studying pollen). She worked for many years reconstructing ancient environments on archaeological sites. But a phone call from a police detective led to a dramatic change of direction, when she was in her fifties. Since then, Pat has been involved in some of the most high-profile murder cases in Britain, including the murder of two ten year old girls in Soham in Cambridgeshire in 2002. She tells Jim Al-Khalili how she pioneered the use of pollen as evidence in criminal cases. Studying spores taken from suspects and victims, she can establish who’s been where and when. Her life, she says, has been 'a mess' but, on many occasions, the pollen she has gathered and analysed has helped to see that justice has been done. Producer: Anna Buckley

Transcript

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0:36.2	fancy a laugh, find your next comedy at BBC Sounds.
0:40.0	Welcome to the podcast of the Life Scientific.
0:43.0	BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts.
0:48.0	Patricia Wiltshire uses Pollan to help solve crimes.
0:52.0	She's a forensic ecologist who's been involved in some of the most high-profile murder cases in Britain in recent decades.
0:59.0	The evidence Patricia gave at the old Bailey helped to convict Ian Huntley, the school caretaker who murdered two 10-year-olds
1:05.3	in Sowham in Cambridgeshire in 2002. She also provided evidence in the investigations
1:11.0	into the Millie Dowler and Sarah Payne murder cases and the murder of the the taken from suspects and their possessions, she can establish who's been wear.
1:24.8	You see, unlike other forms of evidence, pollen isn't easily washed away.
1:29.1	It burrows into clothes and it can often be found on suspect's shoes or on the foot pedals in cars.
1:34.9	Pat's life, she says, has been a mess, but on more than one occasion she's certainly helped to solve
1:40.0	crimes and see that justice has been done.
1:43.0	Professor Pat Wiltshire, welcome to the life scientific.
1:45.4	Thank you very much.
	...

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