Panoramic 360-degree photographs used for first time in Crown Court murder trial
Immersive panoramic 360-degree crime scene images that allow a virtual walk through of the location have been used for the first time in a Crown Court murder trial.
Immersive panoramic 360-degree crime scene images that allow a virtual walk through of the location have been used for the first time in a Crown Court murder trial.
Warwickshire Police used the revolutionary camera which produces street view-style navigation to help secure a 26-year conviction of Scott Melville (38) who murdered partially-sighted pensioner Sydney Pavier (91) in his Leamington Spa home during a burglary.
Members of the jury convicted Melville of murder at Birmingham Crown Court last month after the camera allowed them to be part of a virtual tour of the crime scene.
Peter Grieves-Smith, Principal Crown Advocate of the Crown Prosecution Service, who led the prosecution team at the Melville trial, said: It was invaluable footage that greatly assisted the jury in understanding the layout of the property. It will surely become the norm to use this in the future in the prosecution of complex and grave crime.
Judge Burbidge QC, who commended Warwickshire Police for its professional pursuit of justice in the case, together with the defence and prosecution barristers, agreed that by viewing the 360-degree images on screens in the courtroom it was much easier for the members of the jury to understand the houses layout and contents by walking in a virtual fashion through the house as if they were there in person.
The iSTAR® camera, designed and manufactured by Edinburgh company NCTech, is used by forensic collision investigators at Warwickshire Police.
Forensic collision investigator PC Colin Humphrey explained they have been using the camera for some time at the scene of serious road accidents as it allows them to simply and quickly take 360-degree panoramic, very high-definition photographs, which are of immeasurable help in capturing very detailed images of the location in any sort of light conditions.
In conjunction with laser scanners, which are used to gather very accurate measurements, we can analyse the scene in great detail and it helps us to understand what has happened, he added.
We also attend murder scenes to help CID by producing a two-dimensional plan of the location on paper or using a laser scanner, but at the murder scene in Leamington Spa we also used the iSTAR camera. I took photographs in every room in the house as well as the street outside.
During the case at Birmingham Crown Court I used a laptop connected to screens inside the courtroom and was able to show a tour of every room in the house. The judge, together with the defence and prosecution barristers, chose to use iSTARs photographs rather than the laser scanner information as they believed it was much easier for the members of the jury to understand the houses layout and contents by walking, in a virtual fashion, through the house as if they were there in person.
What iSTAR does, in effect, is put you at the heart of an incident. You can view the location using 360-degree images and it is as if you are standing in the room. You can then move, in a virtual fashion, in any direction requested. As a visual aid it is very helpful indeed as it immerses viewers in the scene and it can help refresh witnesses memories.
Neil Tocher, co-founder and CTO of NCTech, said the camera had proved it capabilities in the case and paved the way for this type of technology to be used for serious and critical situations.
We hope this landmark case and use of the technology demonstrates the ability of iSTAR and high-resolution 360-degree imaging to assist the emergency services in challenging situations, he added.
Originally developed for the military and police for rapid reconnaissance, the camera has multiple applications for the police, from covert operations to recording of crime scenes.