A SURVEY OF GLASS FRAGMENTS RECOVERED FROM CLOTHING OF PERSONS SUSPECTED OF INVOLVEMENT IN CRIME

The distribution of glass fragments recovered from the clothing of over 500 individuals suspected of criminal involvement with breaking or broken glass was studied. The refractive indices of over 4000 recovered glass fragments were measured; the fragments were selected using normal casework practices. A grouping method was applied to the data, providing information on the number of types of matching and non-matching glass present on the clothing. Comparisons of the proportions of matching and non-matching glass were made on the different types of clothing and for different locations on the clothing. Group sizes were also studied, and comparisons of refractive index distributions were made. It was not unusual to find large numbers of non-matching glass fragments on the clothing of an individual, although these were almost invariably from a number of different sources. The refractive index distribution of non-matching glass on clothing is clearly different from that of control glass encountered in casework.