My father, James Zoro, who has died aged 79, pioneered new research methods in forensic science and implemented quality standards for the Home Office Forensic Science Service (FSS), improving the consistency and quality of forensic evidence used in the UK justice system.
He joined the FSS in 1975 in Birmingham, where he and a colleague published a seminal study on the early use of mass spectrometry in forensic science. Jim went on to become a casework reporting officer, dealing with crime scenes, laboratory examinations and presentation of evidence in court.
In 1983 he moved to the Central Research Establishment (CRE) at Aldermaston, Berkshire, where his scientific work included the investigation of arson cases and the analysis of glass fragments arising from crime scenes.
Following promotion to principal scientific officer in 1985, Jim was appointed head of the CRE quality assurance division at Aldermaston. When the FSS became a government executive agency in 1991 he was the driving force for the development of the quality management system, which was the foundation for all FSS laboratories to work to the same standards and gain accreditation over a range of disciplines.
In 1996 Jim was elected the first chairperson of the Quality Assurance Working Group, a committee within the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes. He also had a crucial role in the creation of the UK National DNA Database, which brought the powerful technique of DNA analysis to bear in the UK justice system.
Jim was born in the village of Freeland, Oxfordshire, to Audrey (nee Apted), a dressmaker, and Maurice Zoro, an electrical engineer. He grew up in Broadstairs, Kent, and began his career as a lab technician at Pfizer. There he met Rosie Wallis, a fellow scientist, and they married in 1965.
They moved to Liverpool and in 1967, Jim graduated from the city’s Regional College of Technology (now John Moores University) with a Royal Institute of Chemistry degree, then started a PhD at Liverpool University that he completed at the University of Cambridge in 1971. His postdoctoral work at Bristol University included research into contaminants in environmental samples collected from the muds of the Severn estuary.
Jim was also a true adventurer – visiting remote countries and making lifelong friends. In 1971-72 he and Rosie travelled around the world in their long wheelbase Land Rover, overland and by cargo boat. Following Jim’s early retirement in 1998, they achieved a lifelong dream of sailing around the world, completing their circumnavigation in 2007, after more than seven years and 37,500 nautical miles travelled on their 36ft sailing boat, Avalon.
Jim loved being outdoors in nature and spending time with family. He enjoyed walking, climbing mountains, gardening and growing vegetables. He was also committed to serving his local community in the village of Dorridge, West Midlands, and served as chairman of the village hall, 2011-14.
Jim is survived by Rosie, their three children, Alex, Barney and me, and four grandchildren, and his two sisters, Yolande and Louise.
