Should we accept the cell site analysis evidence?

In short, no, never just accept the cell site analysis evidence put forward by the prosecution.

You may not be disagreeing with the evidence as such; however you should always have the cell site evidence reviewed, especially as recently a large majority of the work we see is conducted by non-experts, usually police analysts or even mobile phone analysts, neither qualified to give expert opinion in relation to cell site analysis.

Mistakes can also be made by cell site analysis experts, such as in the high profile News International case and it is crucial that cell site analysis is checked for accuracy and reliability.

It is not just the “odd case” that has errors, sometimes catastrophic ones; we see mistakes in a huge amount of cases which have gone unchecked.

We won’t publish them here though we have compiled some of the worst ones and use them as part of our new CPD training course “Cell Site Analysis in Action”.

If you are in criminal practise whether prosecution or defence a course like this could prove invaluable.

At a CPD course last year we had a barrister state that he had only “come for the CPD points” as he thought he knew all about cell site analysis. By the end of the 3 hour training session he said that he was glad he had chosen our course as he now realised that he actually knew very little about cell site analysis!

Cell site analysis has been subjected to a lot of changes recently and it is worth keeping up to date with the latest developments. This course is more suitable for barristers and solicitors who have had cases containing cell site analysis and is also suitable for anyone who has previously attended the CPD course “Cell Site Analysis Explained”.

For more information on any of our CPD training courses, or cell site analysis in general call Footprint Investigations on 01527 467467 or email enquiries@footprintinvestigations.com