The occurrence of textile fibres at a crime scene cannot unequivocally identify an individual. However, fibres have a tendency to shed onto surfaces readily and so can be used as associative evidence to connect a suspect to a victim or a crime scene. The transfer mechanisms involved such as primary and/or secondary transfer can shed light on the intentional or unintentional interactions that may have arisen in volume or even major crime scenes. This study aims to investigate the disparity between the high- and low-contact interactions of donor materials and recipient surfaces on the primary and secondary transfer of selected man-made textile fibres. This was achieved through the controlled deposition of fibres from the donor garment selected, onto a recipient surface for the primary transfer. Then using the initial recipient surface to deposit the donor fibres onto a second recipient surface for the secondary transfer via a 4kg kettle bell for the high-contact condition and a 500g cylindrical weight for the low-contact condition. This revealed that the higher weighted interactions of the donor material to a recipient surface increased the number of man-made fibres transferred from that contact by 78-385 fibres in the primary transfer and 54-197 in the secondary transfer in comparison to the fibres transferred in the low-contact condition where 57-246 fibres were transferred in the primary transfer and 48-125 fibres were transferred in the secondary transfer (these values represent the range of number of fibres transferred across the three fibre types). The significance of this research can be reflected in the valid applications to real-life circumstances such as the interpretation of Bayes’ Theorem and for the betterment of cross-contamination protocols at a scene or laboratory. It would therefore be advantageous for researchers in future experimentation, to conduct more rigorous analysis on the transfer and persistence of a wide range of fibres after their transfer in a high- and low-contact interaction in order to improve the accuracy of the preexisting literature.
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