'My love for Silent Witness led me to join police force'

A forensics officer said she was inspired to pursue a career in fighting crime by her love of a BBC TV show.

Virginia Fletcher, 25, has achieved her "childhood dream" by securing a job at Nottinghamshire Police and said characters from crime drama Silent Witness were a major inspiration.

Ms Fletcher - who began watching the show aged 11 - now helps to solve murders and other crimes for the force.

She said: "It's nice now watching Silent Witness with my parents."

Ms Fletcher began an apprenticeship with the force before securing a permanent role as a forensic analytical services laboratory officer, based at the Arrow Centre in Hucknall.

"I really liked science at school - I remember a lesson about DNA when I was in Year 7 and that got the ball rolling in terms of my interest in forensic science," she said.

"From there, I was always watching programmes such as Silent Witness and playing around with forensic science kits designed for kids."

Ms Fletcher said she watched the show - which has run continuously since 1996 - with her parents.

"Only now they keep asking, 'do you do that?'," she said.

Having been inspired by the BBC series, Ms Fletcher went on to achieve a biomedical sciences degree from the University of Sheffield, followed by an MSc.

"I'm absolutely loving it. What I love about working with the police is you can do something with what you find, such as solving a case and getting justice for a victim," she said.

"Eventually you might hear on the news that a person has been convicted and you know yourself you played a key role in that happening - and it feels amazing.

"There's a puzzle to be solved every day."

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