Ian Tatner

Having completed his PhD looking into the corrosion fatigue of stainless steel turbine blade materials, Ian’s career began working in the offshore oil and gas pipeline installation industry. Initially he worked on the construction of a pipeline installation barge in Turkey, before working offshore as a Barge Engineer during the installation of a pipeline in the Black Sea. Ian then spent a year working in Houston Texas on other offshore pipeline installation projects. In 2006 Ian moved to London where he worked as a Pipeline Installation Analysis Engineer. While in London Ian was involved in many interesting and innovative projects. He spent time offshore carrying out analysis during pipeline installation and dredging operations in the North Sea. He was also seconded to Baku in Azerbaijan to conduct pipeline installation analysis. Ian joined Hawkins in early 2009, where he trained in the investigation of fires and explosions to add to his engineering experience. Since then he has worked on a broad spread of forensic investigations. These have ranged from fires in domestic properties, restaurants and vehicles to explosions in factories. Since 2014 Ian has been investigating pedestrian fall incidents. These include slips and trips on level surfaces and stair falls. He […]

Helen Rosser

Following the completion of her first degree at Aston University Helen worked as a chemist, developing and improving infra-red decoy, target and tracking flares for military use. She gained her first insight into forensic science as a Scientific Advisor to London Fire Brigade when she provided advice and carried out fire and accident investigations. During this time she completed a degree in Fire Engineering at London South Bank University, building on her practical knowledge of fire and explosion science. Prior to joining Hawkins in 2012 Helen worked as a specialist Fire Investigator for the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in London for 12 years. She performed laboratory examinations on items recovered from fires and carried out scene investigations in a wide range of settings, including domestic, commercial and industrial premises as well as vehicles. Helen was responsible for setting up a validated method for flashburning to clothing and represented the FSS in Europe as Chair of the ENFSI Expert Working Group in Fire and Explosion. Helen is experienced in the legal process and has given evidence as an expert witness in Crown Courts and Coroner’s inquests on many occasions. Helen is a Senior Associate based in our London Office.

Peter Reupke

Peter’s engineering career started in the textile industry where he worked on improving textile laminating and drying machinery. After a two year return to university to follow his interests in combustion and energy engineering, Peter undertook four years of research on biomass fuelled furnaces, gasifiers and carbonisation kilns at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI). During his time at NRI he wrote a number of papers and short books on the combustion of biomass. After he witnessed an explosion in an experimental gasifier, Peter developed an interest in explosions and uncontrolled combustion. In 1994 he moved to Chilworth Technology, a company specialising in providing advice to process industries on explosion prevention and protection. There, he undertook fire and explosion risk assessments and provided training for a number of firms, largely in the chemical, food and pharmaceutical sector. Peter joined Hawkins in 1996 and almost immediately became involved in the investigation of a number of gas explosions. Since then, he has applied his knowledge to the investigation of over 900 fires, explosions, chemical incidents and water leaks. These include the investigation of arson and major industrial incidents, but his work also involves looking at small domestic fires, electrical faults and failed pipework. […]

Adrian Ratte

Adrian’s background is diverse, having gained experience with oil and gas exploration in the Canadian Arctic at Schlumberger, manufacturing of gas compression and generator packages in the oilfields of Alberta at Enerflex, and as a contract manufacturer applying prototyping and machining technologies at Alzar Industries in Ontario. He also completed a race car Mechanic training program at the Bridgestone Racing Academy near Toronto. Throughout University he was heavily involved in the Formula SAE team, where the students design and build a race car each year. Eventually culminating in a position as the team leader, his final year thesis project was the design, construction, and testing of a carbon fibre race car chassis. After completing his degree, Adrian joined Sereca Fire Consulting Ltd in Vancouver, BC in 2006 and for 7 years he performed engineering analysis following fires and other failure incidents. During this period he investigated fires, explosions, and other engineering failures in domestic, commercial, and industrial facilities. He has also investigated fires and failures in boats, heavy machinery and vehicles. This position included a focus on the application of Building Regulations, Standards, and Electrical and Gas Codes of Practice to identify defects, evaluate requirements, and analyse compliance. He has […]

Martin Pope

Martin is a Chartered Physicist with a broad-based Bachelor of Science (BScHons) degree from the Open University, which he took during a long career with Kent Police as a Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) and senior CSI/crime scene Manager. Martin also undertook an HNC in electronic and electrical engineering whilst in the industry and was a Retained Firefighter with Kent Fire and Rescue Service for five years. Martin joined Hawkins in 2019 with 14 years of previous experience in commercial fire investigation. Whilst with Hawkins, he has conducted over 400 investigations involving all types of fires, from large overseas losses to small domestic incidents. He has a particular interest in explosion investigation, fires in thatched buildings, unusual ignition mechanisms, and non-destructive methods of entry and is frequently consulted in cases of high value commercial burglary. He is a Principal Associate in our Cambridge office.

Charles Murdoch

Charles’ background is in materials, having graduated with an MEng in Materials Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, UK. In his final year of study he took a slight specialism into Aerospace Materials covering aerospace structures and design. After leaving Imperial College, Charles secured a graduate scheme position with Rolls-Royce plc based initially in Derby, UK. As a graduate he spent placements on the shop floor, at the Heathrow field service office looking after British Airways and also spent time in Montreal, Canada, with the Energy business. After 18 months, he graduated from the scheme and into the Rolls-Royce internal Failure Investigation Team investigating a wide range of components from failed bolts to failed fan blades. In the majority of cases investigations concerned metallic components, however polymer, composite or even cardboard components were not uncommon. Investigations regularly included an aspect of tribology or fractography using a high magnification scanning electron microscope. In 2014 Charles relocated back to London and to Hawkins, and has continued to investigate Materials and Mechanical failures. Charles now regularly returns to his ‘student days’ at Imperial College to perform analysis of fracture surfaces on the microscopes available. Since joining Charles expanded his areas of expertise […]

James Morris

James completed his PhD researching a novel enzyme and its mechanism of action in blood cells, before undertaking six years postdoctoral research into the biochemistry of various cellular signalling pathways. In 2007 James took on a role at a small biotechnology company, where he ultimately became responsible for the chemicals production business, serving hospitals through the UK and Europe with histological stains. James built up the product stewardship requirements of the business, and qualified as a road transport Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser. James has since worked as a Product Steward, assessing and assigning hazard and transport classifications to new and reformulated petrochemicals products, for Shell and Gulf Oil. At Hawkins, he will be aiding both the Fire Investigation and Contamination teams, with his extensive knowledge of chemical reactions. James is a Senior Associate based in our Reigate Office.

Samuel Morley

Samuel graduated from the University of Bath in 2003 with a Masters in Architecture having previously graduated in 2001 with a BSc in General Architectural Studies from the same university. During his studies Samuel benefited from the unique interdisciplinary studio teaching with both architecture and engineering students contributing towards projects; preparing him for collaboration in professional life. Upon graduation Samuel worked initially in facilities management for University College London Hospitals on a project to document and assess their existing estate providing data to enable informed property decisions. In 2004 Samuel transitioned to private practice in an architectural role at Thomas Nugent Architects whilst he completed his PgDip in Professional Practice in Architecture at University of Westminster; achieving Chartered status in 2007. During his time Samuel led a variety of commercial and domestic projects ranging from new build houses to hotel, office and residential developments. In 2008 Samuel moved to Mace to become part of their multi-disciplinary design team where he led public sectors projects including children’s centres, libraries and schools. During this period Samuel was seconded for 3 years to Hampshire County Council to lead their nursing care programme, whilst also working on education and other civic projects, as part […]

Paul Moody

Paul completed his undergraduate degree in Metallurgy at the University of Birmingham in 1990. During this time, he was sponsored by British Steel and gained work experience at Swinden Labs in Rotherham. Paul later completed his Doctorate at the University of Birmingham, researching the fracture properties of welded structural steels in relation to the oxygen content of weld metals. The work was sponsored by ESAB, headquartered in Waltham Cross in London. After completing his studies in 1995, Paul began his career at the Defence Research Agency as a Research Scientist, working on welding of high strength naval steels and investigations of failed components. Following this, Paul worked as a Metallurgist at a number of firms including Bodycote Materials Testing Ltd, Ingenco Ltd (formerly Scottish Power Technology), and Doosan Babcock Ltd. Paul’s experience includes facilitating contract materials testing for the offshore oil and gas services industry, performing remanent life assessment on boilers for power plants and petrochemical sites, investigating failed components, and providing support on materials related issues. Since joining Hawkins in 2017, Paul has worked on cases involving escapes of water, personal injuries, petrochemical sites and boilers for power generation. Paul’s boiler and petrochemical site investigations have taken place in […]

Claire Mann

Claire carried out her first Masters Degree at Oxford University, where she remained to complete a DPhil at the Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, working in collaboration with the Process Development Group of Syngenta. Claire then went on to pursue her interest in forensic science and studied for the Master of Forensic Science Degree at Kings College, London. During this time, Claire worked at the Forensic Explosives Laboratory and developed a GC/FTIR method for the analysis of explosives. Since joining Hawkins in 2006, Claire has specialised in the investigation of causes of fires and explosions. These cases have varied greatly in scale from relatively small domestic incidents to large commercial fires. Claire has also lent her chemistry background to the contamination team at Hawkins, where she has carried out post-fire, post-flood and post-chemical spill contamination investigations throughout the world. This work involves determining the effects of contaminants on buildings, production equipment, complex computer systems and products, including food stuffs and pharmaceuticals, and providing advice on the long term effects of the contaminants and best remediation techniques for recovery. During her time at Hawkins, Claire successfully completed the BOHS course for surveying buildings for asbestos and has since carried out asbestos […]