This is me - André Horne

 I have a Bachelor of Medical Sciences Degree.  I was awarded a Certificate in Forensic Firearm and Toolmark Examinations for Specialists, having completed a three-year training course.  I subsequently completed an Advanced Programme in Forensic Criminalistics majoring in Forensic Ballistics.  My training and experience include the following:

• Examination, identification, development, manufacturing, reloading and classification of ammunition. 
• Examination, identification and classification of fired bullets and fired cartridge cases.
• Examination, identification and classification of firearms (including home-made firearm).
• The different manufacturing processes of firearms and firearm components.
• The examination and assessment of firearm mechanisms, firearm standard operating cycles, and safety devices.
• Internal Ballistics (combustion of propellant, gas pressure development and measurement of chamber pressures of firearms).
• Intermediate Ballistics: The behaviour and effect of firearms discharges residues (hot gasses, products of combustion, propellant particles) on objects when a firearm is discharged.
• External Ballistics (reconstruction of bullet trajectories -short and long range - from the muzzle of the firearm to the point of impact, the influence of bullet shapes, sectional density and ballistic coefficient on trajectories and the measurement of bullet velocities).
• Terminal Ballistics (wounding mechanism and the wounding effect of projectiles i.e. wound ballistics and the examination of gunshot wounds during post mortem examinations, effect of projectiles on various target materials i.e. damage interpretation, the behaviour and effect of secondary missiles, the effect of target material on projectiles i.e. how projectiles are damaged and acquire trace materials, identification and calibre determination of projectiles from X-rays.
• The transfer of marks by firearms to cartridges, fired projectiles and fired cartridge cases.
• The microscopic comparison of the marks transferred to ammunition components by firearms using a comparison microscope.
• Distance determination by analysing the firearms discharge residues and propellant/shot patterns resulting from firearms discharges.
• The examination and interpretation of undesirable discharges such as accidental discharges, unintentional discharges, inadvertent discharges and negligent discharges.
• The examination and investigation of shooting incidents and their reconstruction.
• Techniques associated with the recovering and restoration of obliterated alpha-numeric figures on metal (serial number restoration).
• The examination and assessment of publications relating to craft produced firearms.
• The examination of items to determine if they share a common origin i.e. physical fit examinations.
• The examination and identification of tools.
• The examination and microscopic comparison of marks produced by various tools using a comparison microscope.

I have attended several additional courses and workshops in shooting incident reconstruction and I have examined, reconstructed and reported numerous shooting incidents.  I have studied and I specialise in Wound Ballistics, I have attended numerous autopsies to provide consultation to forensic pathologists and for the purpose of my own studies and I have conducted numerous empirical tests to examine and study the terminal effects of projectiles.  I have presented workshops at international conferences on External Ballistics and Wound Ballistics.  I have also presented shooting incident reconstruction courses for the Turkish police forces.  I was responsible for the training of staff at laboratories that I have worked at and for certifying them competent to perform their duties.  I was also responsible for the writing, validation and maintenance of different forensic firearms procedures/methods and for the design of the forms to take notes.  I successfully completed external proficiency tests (including microscopic comparison and distance determination) annually from various organizations including Collaborative Testing Services, Inc. in Sterling, Virginia, America.  I have attended at various manufacturers to view and study the manufacturing of firearms and ammunition.

I am a member of the Association of Firearms and Tool Mark Examiners.  I qualified as a firearms instructor of the NRA (National Rifle Association USA) and NAFTA (National Firearms Training Association - South Africa) and was a firearms instructor at Targa 2000 and The Security Academy.  I was a Range Conducting Officer of the National Rifle Association UK.  I also qualified as a Taser Instructor and Taser Technician.  I have been a Forensic Firearms and Toolmarks Examiner for more than thirty-nine years and for more than thirty years this was my primary occupation.  I was the head of the Eastern Cape Forensic Ballistics Unit at the Forensic Science Laboratory of the South African Police Force for seven years.  I was the team lead at Eurofins Forensic Services (formerly LGC Forensics) Firearms Laboratory for fourteen years and the Science Lead for 3 years.  During my career I examined more than three thousand five hundred Forensics Firearms and Toolmarks related cases.  I have given evidence before the Crown Court and Coroner’s Court numerous times.  I have also given evidence internationally before courts in South Africa, Cyprus and the Cayman Islands and I have produced several statements for the Dutch High Court.