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Appe x 34

MAJOR MEAD'S OPINION

OPINION OF MAJOR PETER JAMES FREDERICK MEAD.

DEATH OF JOHN RICHARD MACLENNAN.

I am a Major in the Regular Army, a member of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.

I have maintained an interest in weapons since childhood and have tended to specialise

in technical matters related to ammunition and wounding. I am a Technical Staff

Officer, although not employed as such at this timė. Since qualifying in ammunition

after a 15 month course in 1969, I have held a number of posts of a technical nature

concerning weapons and ammunition. Because of my experience in such matters, I

was loaned to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Northern Ireland during 1973 and 1974

to assist in clearing a backlog of major firearms offences which prevailed in the

Province at that time. During the time I was there, I personally attended court

some 150 times as an expert witness on firearms cases and during the time in the

Laboratory was indirectly involved with hundreds of other similar cases.

Since that time I have been permitted to offer my services as a private consultant

in firearms matters, which results in an irregular workload from year to year. I

maintain my interest in weapons through my current job in the Army and in my own time.

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