It's an open-and-shut case. The fingerprints found at the scene of a crime match those of the man the police have just arrested. So he's guilty, yes? Not so fast . . . No one has ever proved that every finger possesses a unique pattern of ridges and grooves, or that a single smudgy print can be matched to just one person, says historian of science Simon Cole. In his new book, he argues that contrary to public opinion, there's scarcely any science to back it up. Indeed, what little evidence thereis suggests that fingerprint examiners may match prints to the wrong person as much as 20 per cent of the time. Adrian Cho asked Cole if the cops and the courts are likely to come clean.

Are you arguing that fingerprinting doesn't work or that no one has ever scientifically proved that it works?

I'm arguing that nobody has ...