The SWGTREAD guidelines are the first major attempt by a professional forum of
shoeprint and tire tread evidence examiners to establish consensus in the detection, collection, and analysis of
shoeprint and tire tread evidence.
The Unit also maintains databases, including the Anonymous Letter File, Bank Robbery Note File, National Fraudulent Check File, Watermark File, and
Shoeprint File.
Examples include a podiatrist's drawing conclusions about foot shape from an image, a
shoeprint expert's drawing conclusions about the provenance of a shoe, or a military expert's drawing conclusions about force distribution from remote sensing data.
A
shoeprint on her doorstep could not be indentified and the murder weapon was never recovered.
Another forensics expert, Dr John Birkett, said he was unable to identify a
shoeprint found on the doorstep.
Called SICAR -
Shoeprint Image Capture and Retrieval - the computer system is the invention of an English company Envisage, based in Hertfordshire.
But jurors were told once inside he turned on Mr Lindley, stamping on his head so hard he left a
shoeprint on it which matched his trainers and attacking him with a weapon, possibly his walking stick.
O'Brien, who had stamped on her face so hard he left a
shoeprint, was jailed for 15 months yesterday.
Shoeprint and tire tread impression evidence is examined to determine the brand name and manufacturer of the shoe or tire that made an impression.
In the house, forensic scientists found Cotterell's fingerprints and a
shoeprint matching a boot owned by Cotterell.
Neil O'Brien, 41, drove 15 miles to Toni Milton's house where he stamped on her face so hard he left a
shoeprint.
A
shoeprint left on the door of the ransacked flat was later matched to one of his trainers and stolen property was found in a rabbit hutch in his garden.
