Many of you have already very kindly voted for me in the MILLION FOR A MORGUE campaign to have a teaching mortuary in Dundeed named after a crimewriter. 10 Crimewriters are competing for votes and donations.
To give you an update on the work, this is a report just in from them for their top 10 achievements so far
1. We have unearthed and repatriated the remains of a lost WW2 spitfire pilot,
2. we have assisted in 12 murder investigations (3 of whom involved mutilated and dismembered remains),
3. we have seen 5 paedophiles change their plea to guilty based on our evidence so that the families and the victims are not trawled through the pain of court and these predators are away from our children,
4. we have provided evaluation in 236 cases of remains that are not human and allowed tight police budgets to be better directed;
5. we have been acknowledged by the Lord Advocate for our work in helping the police to increase the number of convictions for child sexual abuse in Scotland,
6. we have been awarded the Stephen Fry medal for public engagement of our research,
7. we have provided trauma analysis for two cases of suspicious child deaths,
8. we have multiple column inches in the press, radio transmissions and TV coverage
9. we have been successful in securing 270,000 euros for research
10. we have published 8 academic papers etc etc etc – it has been busy!
………… and of course my team is on standby for the Olympics should any mass fatality event occur (God forbid)
The morgue is going to be a centre for scientific research and training, helping the next generation of scientists, doctors and dentists to become better at saving lives and at developing cures for a huge range of illnesses. The morgue will also be instrumental for Prof Sue Black’s work with the police in the UK; in smashing paedophile networks, in understanding how crimes were committed, as well as her endeavours overseas – she’s travelled the world, helping identify bodies that are decomposed, burned, mutilated or otherwise unrecognisable, including the victims of natural disasters, such as the 2004 tsunami. Sue’s highest profile project was identifying the bodies of Slobodan Milosevic’s victims in mass graves in the Balkans – both for public record, and for burial. The new morgue will help Sue and her team be at the forefront of new technology as well as being the training ground for a new generation, people who can carry on Sue’s work across the globe.
To vote online go to http://www.millionforamorgue.com/the-authors/Peter-James
To vote by text, use the code PETJ10
All codes should be sent to 70070 along with the amount in pounds. So, if you wanted to donate £10 for me, you would type: PETJ10 and send it to 70070.
As with all mortuaries, I hope to remain an occasional day visitor there and not an overnight guest!!!