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Forensic psychology
Forensic psychology

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2 DS Sund solves the crime

Figure 5

It should be clear by now that DS Sund conducted her investigation using a very different approach to DI Bullet, and that the techniques she used were based on psychological knowledge of eyewitness memory. Will you be able to find problems in the way she handled things or will her investigation stand up to your expert scrutiny?

DS Sund is not confident that she has an accurate description of the crime, but based on the evidence she gained from the witnesses, the following is her best estimate of how the crime happened:

  • Seth, Lila and Liz enter the street just as two armed men approach a security van.
  • One man is masked, and the other is not, though may initially be wearing a helmet that is knocked off in a fight with one of the guards.
  • The unmasked robber struggles with one of the guards, pushes him to the ground and removes a case that is chained to the guard using some form of tool.
  • While this is happening, a third man approaches the witnesses as Liz has taken out a mobile phone. This man is likely to be masked, either like the other man or possibly wearing a cap and sunglasses.
  • As the man grabs Liz, a silver Audi, number plate NG58 VXW, reverses into the street and all four doors open. The driver gets out and the other three men run towards the car and get in. The one near the witnesses drags Liz with him and forces her into the car, which then drives away.
  • The men were wearing dark jackets, possibly with hoods, and army fatigues.
  • The unmasked robber is 5 feet 9 inches, in his early 20s, of average build, possibly slim, and has dark hair, darkish skin and is of either Middle Eastern or Indian ethnicity.
  • The driver is also about 5 feet 9 inches, Caucasian, in his 30s, has short hair and had a muscley build.

The unmasked robber is the man shown in the right-hand image above. The evidence for this is:

  • the description from the witnesses does not contain any details that would rule him out
  • one of the witnesses identified him in an identity parade.

The driver is the man shown in the left-hand image above. The evidence for this is:

  • the description from the witnesses does not contain any details that would rule him out
  • one of the witnesses identified him in an identity parade.