Investigators

BSc MSc PhD MRICS CEng MIFireE

Dr Lygate’s extensive 30 year career has led to his position as the Principal Investigator at IFIC, an organisation serving a global client network. PhD qualified in his field from the University of Edinburgh. He has given testimonies in high profile Court cases and is the author of numerous professional publications. Dr Lygate has investigated fires and explosions in commercial, industrial and marine environments across the world.

C.B.E, DSc, F.I. Fire E.

Dr Rushbrook, former Firemaster of East Lothian and Borders Fire Service is the founder of IFIC and author of the text Fire Aboard in which he shares his pioneering experience of investigating ship fires. Although no longer an active field investigator, he brings specialist knowledge to IFIC as Principal Advisor.

CEng BA PhD MSFPE MIFireE

For over three decades, Dr Ashmore has cultivated an outstanding career both working and consulting for major global companies including Shell, Texaco and W S Atkins, Technica and Cremer and Warner. This experience includes engineering work in design and analysis, inspection and audit of safety systems, fire safety management studies, application of risk management techniques, fire and explosion investigation and work as an expert witness.
Dr Ashmore is based in London.

CEng MSc MIFireE

Stephen is an independent Senior Consultant with IFIC. He is a chartered fire engineer and Member of the Institution of Fire Engineers. He has worked with IFIC since 1996 and has undertaken investigations of fires in ships, aircraft and nuclear facilities as well as commercial and domestic premises. He has prepared reports for Court as a fire detection and suppression expert and has given evidence as an expert witness in both Scotland and England. He has acted on behalf of a major UK fire suppression system manufacturer in defence of a claim for negligent system design. He has undertaken investigations both in the UK and abroad.

GIFireE

Douglas served an impressive 32 years with the British Fire Service, the last 10 in the rank of Divisional Officer with Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Service which is the UK’s second largest Brigade. He subsequently joined IFIC as a Senior Investigator and has undertaken over 750 fire investigations including vehicles, domestic, industrial and commercial premises. Douglas is a member of the International Association of Arson Investigators.

BSc (Hons) MRSC CChem CSci

A chartered chemist and scientist, Ian brings considerable analytical and scientific expertise to IFIC as one of our Senior Investigators. He has been involved in fire fatality research at the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University of Glasgow and environmental and product safety testing for Local Authorities at Glasgow Scientific Services. He was a scientific adviser of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Technical Support Team (TST) for over 12 years, attending and resolving hazardous material incidents, providing officer training and assistance to other Brigades throughout the UK. Ian is a member of the International Association of Arson Investigators.

John served 31 years with Strathclyde Fire and Rescue where he was a Watch Commander before joining IFIC as a Senior Investigator. For 12 years John was a full time fire and explosion investigator and gave evidence on several occasions in criminal trials and at inquest. He also developed and delivered fire investigation training at the Scottish Fire Service College to Fire Service personnel. He has also delivered training to scenes of crime officers and forensic scientists. John has sat on national forums for fire investigation and the development of crime scene standards. John is a member of the International Association of Arson Investigators and is active in the UK chapter as the Scottish Regional representative.

BEng (Hons) MSc PhD

Matthew qualified as a Mechanical Engineer in 1999 and completed an MSc in Combustion and Energy in 2000. He continued as a postgraduate and performed several thousand explosion experiments and was awarded his PhD in 2005 (University of Leeds). During his time in academia, Matthew was extensively involved in consultancy and research work for companies including Shell, BP, Exxon-Mobile, Jaguar Land Rover, Cosworth Racing and Ilmore F1. In 2007 Matthew joined Hawkins where he specialised in the forensic investigation of fires and explosions. Matthew is a member of the Combustion Institute. Matthew is a Senior Investigator with IFIC based in Dublin.

FIFireE MFSSoc

David served 30 years in the British Fire Service in London during which time he investigated over 2000 fires including over 40 fatal fires most of which required his testimony at inquest. Since 2006 David has undertaken fire investigations and expert witness cases in the UK and overseas for a range of private clients. He is currently involved with the terrorist bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan in 2007. David has previously made live television and radio appearances on national networks providing insight on major fire-related events. He is a fire investigation instructor/visiting lecturer at the UK Fire Service College. David is an active member of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE). He is founder and chair of the IFE’s fire investigation and research special interest group. David is based in London.

EngTech MIFireE

Deon Webber served 35 years in the UK Fire Service, the last 12 years as a specialist fire investigator and he formed and managed the service’s Fire Investigation Team as a Group Manager. Deon is a member of the Institution of Fire Engineers and member of the International Association of Fire Investigators for who he is the North West regional representative. He has just completed his MSc in Fire Investigation at University of Central Lancashire. He has designed and delivered fire investigation training programmes for the Fire Service, Police and Forensic Students and is an examiner for the IFE. As Investigating Officer, he has reported on over 300 incidents and given evidence in the Criminal and Coroners Courts.

BEng (Hons) MIEI

Maurice completed a degree in Building Services Engineering at the University of Manchester (UMIST) in 2000. He then worked as a senior engineer before being promoted to engineering director in 2004 and was responsible for overseeing multimillion-euro projects. Maurice has a depth of experience of design, installation and management of mechanical building services and hydrocarbon combustion equipment including boilers and heating systems. He is also qualified as a registered gas installer and has installed and overseen in excess of 1000 building projects both as a qualified plumber before entering university and as an engineering director. Since joining IFIC in 2010, Maurice has completed over 50 investigations of fires and water escapes throughout the UK and Ireland. Maurice is currently finalising an MSc in Fire Investigation and is based in our Dublin office.

Other Expertise

At IFIC, we consider it one of our strengths in recognising that no matter how qualified, we are not experts in everything. We have built long standing relationships with a number of prominent professionals from industry and academia who provide comprehensive expertise on specific issues. Such experts provide invaluable assistance to the Court.