Preston flats made forensic crime scene sites for UCLan students

Child neglect room at UCLan’s forensic facility

UCLan has turned a block of Preston flats into crime scene sites for its forensic science and criminal investigation students.

Fifteen flats off Harrington Street, a vacant community housing project near the Preston campus of the University of Central Lancashire, were repurposed to create more practical crime scene training facilities where students can work authentic scenarios.

The majority of the properties, comprised of a galley kitchen, small bathroom, bedrooms, lounge and hallway, have been largely untouched to replicate the real-life surroundings crime scene investigators face in the field.

Fire damaged room at UCLan’s forensic facility

Paul Callaghan, Course Leader for the UCLan BSc (Hons) Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation, said: “A lot of the flats weren’t in good condition.

“We haven’t done much work to them as they will allow our students to experience the environments they’ll be working in.

“We’ve turned the worst room, which really was disgusting, into a child neglect scenario because it replicates many of the crime scenes that us staff, who’ve worked as crime scene investigators, have encountered in our years in the job.”

A variety of scenes have been created to replicate the real world, including bedsits, family-sized properties, offices and an estate agency.

A selection of old charity shop sofas, beds, chairs and carpets have been fire damaged to imitate arson and electrical fire scenarios.

CCTV is in all the properties, and the cameras link to a specialist observation room where the academics can watch and listen to the students during the practical sessions.

Final year student Sophie Ponsonby, 20, from Burscough, is one of the first students to use the new crime scene flats.

She said: “They are amazing! We now have a great opportunity to use really good facilities with a great range of different scenes. They are very life-like and replicate the environments we’ll be working in once we’ve qualified.”

Paul and his colleagues are all former crime scene investigators.

Paul said: “The demand for our courses is growing year on year, and the numbers have doubled in size during the past three to four years.

“We want to ensure all our students get as much hands-on experience as possible, so these new facilities will allow one to two students to work on a single scenario rather than four to five as has occurred previously.”

Twenty-one-year-old Katie Davies, from East Sussex, added: “Previously, we’ve worked in situations where one person has been the photographer, another has been the note-taker, and another has been on fingerprints because of the restrictions on the room.

“But now, we can work individually and be responsible for all crime scene management in a scene, which is how it would be if we attended scenes like burglaries on homes and cars.”

The new facilities are in addition to the university’s three terraced houses, which are home to various set-ups, including a post office and pub and a specialist garage, which houses four vehicles and blood analysis areas.

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