Expert witness and forensic services

ISVR Consulting staff are experienced in preparing evidence and/or presenting evidence in court as expert witnesses in civil and criminal cases. In civil proceedings we may be instructed by solicitors acting either for the claimant or the defendant. Frequently these days, we are instructed as a single joint expert. We also prepare and present evidence at Public Inquiries. Our fields of expertise include sound, noise (including environmental noise), acoustics, electroacoustics, hearing and hearing damage, and forensic audio, enhancement and transcription.

We have recently acted as experts in cases of alleged hearing damage caused by noise from workshop machinery, hand tools, firearms, alarms, ultrasonic equipment, and headsets, and by occupational noise in general. Our task is usually to assess the claimant's noise exposure and noise history, determine whether the hearing loss reported is compatible with the claimant's noise exposure history and whether any hearing protection was adequate. We also assess whether noise exposures exceeded guidelines or regulations in force at the time.

In a number of cases, including murder investigations, we have been asked to determine whether shouts, screams or banging could be heard under certain conditions or in certain noisy environments, or at a distance. We have also been asked whether witnesses would be able to identify the source or direction of sounds that they had heard. In an unusual case we were required to measure the effectiveness of an assault rifle silencer, constructed from plans found on the computer of a person subsequently convicted of actions preparatory to terrorism, and our consultant gave evidence in court. By analysing the sound recorded by a security camera's microphone, another of our consultants was able to identify the order in which various cars passed a security camera during a high speed chase and was able to determine each car's speed, although the cars themselves remained outside the camera's field of view.

We have experience of enhancing audio tape recordings to clarify speech recorded under less than ideal conditions, and of producing transcripts of difficult recordings. We can also determine, in some cases, whether a tape has been edited or interfered with.

If you require any further information please contact:

Stuart Dyne, Manager
ISVR Consulting
University of Southampton
Highfield
Southampton
SO17 1BJ
UK

E-mail: consultancy@isvr.co.uk