Fingerprints can last a very long time

In November 2006 a number of cars were broken into around Audlem in an

attempt to steal them. Fingerprints and blood were found on some of the

vehicles which were matched to a nineteen year old man from the

Stoke-on-Trent area. In the middle of August this year, this man was

arrested and interviewed at Nantwich. During this interview he fully

admitted all the Audlem offences and went on to admit further similar

offences in other locations.

An interesting side story emerged from this incident when a second

identification was made from a fingerprint found on one of the vehicles. This belonged to a man from Birmigham, and this man was interviewed as part of the investigation. When asked to explain how his fingerprint came to be on the inside of the ignition cowling of one of the vehicles, he came up with a surprising answer. He said that fifteen years ago he had worked on a vehicle production line in Cowley where he had fitted the igniton parts. This story was checked and found to be true.

The police are waiting for fingerprint tests relating to other offences

committed in the village. Will they produce as fascinating a result as the 'Cowley' print?

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