James Malcolm Cameron (1930 – 14 June 2003) was a British

forensic scientist Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...

. Cameron was born in Swansea and attended Glasgow High School and was often known as " Taffy" due to his Welsh background. After graduating from the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, he held appointments in general medicine, general surgery, orthopaedic surgery and paediatric orthopaedics, before specialising in pathology with a special interest in forensic pathology. He joined the

London Hospital Medical College Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical school, medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal Un ...

as a lecturer in 1963. He progressed to senior lecturer in 1965 and reader from 1970. He was also a senior lecturer at

St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College , mottoeng = Temper the bitter things in life with a smile , parent = Queen Mary University of London , president = Lord Mayor of London , head_label = Warden , head = Mark Caulfield , students = 3,410 , undergrad = 2,23 ...

from 1971. He succeeded Francis Camps to the Chair of Forensic Medicine in 1973 which he occupied until his retirement in 1992. Cameron appeared in the 1979 Sunn Classic Picture documentary In Search Of Historic Jesus offering his expertise on the Shroud of Turin. Cameron was also interviewed on an episode of the American television series In Search Of... concerning the Jack the Ripper case. Cameron was involved in many high profile investigations, including the death of

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position unt ...

in Spandau Prison in his capacity as Senior Honorary Consultant in Forensic Medicine to the Armed Forces. His testimony was discredited in other cases, including the infamous

Maxwell Confait Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of ...

murder case of 1972, in which Cameron's incorrect testimony regarding time of death led to the wrongful conviction of three young men. The case had huge ramifications ultimately leading to a Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure. His testimony at the

Lindy Chamberlain Alice Lynne "Lindy" Chamberlain-Creighton (née Murchison; born 4 March 1948) is a New Zealand–born Australian woman who was wrongfully convicted in one of Australia's most publicised murder trials. Accused of killing her nine-week-old daught ...

trial in 1982 assisted her wrongful conviction for the murder of her baby daughter

Azaria Azaria ( he, עֲזַרְיָה), or Azarya is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah around five kilometres south-east of Ramle, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council. In it had a population of . Etymology ...

. The conviction was overturned in 1988 and Cameron's conclusions were criticised by Chief Justice Asche in his opinion in "Re Conviction of Chamberlain" (1988).

References

British forensic scientists 1930 births 2003 deaths {{UK-scientist-stub