12:30pm Thursday 2nd September 2010
A FORENSIC scientist told a murder trial jury that footwear impressions taken from a house near Pershore were "consistent" with a missing shoe allegedly worn by an accused man.
The prosecution claim a trainer seen in a photograph of Jonathan Palmer was disposed of along with other clothing after he bludgeoned his wife to death.
All Palmer's shoes were collected by police from his house in Crabbe Lane, Wadborough, but a pair of trainers with dark blue or black uppers, decorated by three white stripes, had disappeared.
Andrew Gregg, a scientist who specialises in footwear, told Worcester Crown Court he identified the trainers in the picture found at the house as Adidas Samba or Samba Super models.
He said 11 footwear impressions collected from the murder house were consistent with the soles of such Adidas trainers.
He calculated the size of shoe from the impressions as 10, 11 or 12, a size worn by 20 per cent of the population. Palmer wore a size 11.
Mr Gregg also eliminated 10 other shoe manufacturers who made similar soles.
Palmer, aged 52, denies the murder of his 57-year-old wife Melinda on December 22 last year.
He claims she was killed by a burglar who got into the house while he was spending the day with his mistress in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.
Fingerprint expert Elizabeth Bilborough told the jury she identified a bloodstained finger print on the living room door as that of Palmer's right ring finger.
She was unable to identify four fingerprints, despite searching the national database. One probably came from a child under the age of 10.
It is alleged that Palmer left the bloody fingerprint as he was taking his wife's body from a rear hall to a front hall to hide it while he was out from any visitors who may have called.
Det Con James Gordon analysed a memory card from Palmer's mobile phone which was found by police in his Land Rover Discovery.
He discovered downloaded "pornographic images" of a woman, besides pictures of Palmer and his house.
Palmer's former mistress Jackie Marshall gave evidence that they exchanged sexually explicit pictures by mobile phone.
The trial continues.
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