He became a Home Office pathologist in 1965 and was appointed Professor of Forensic Pathology, University of Wales College of Medicine, in 1980.
[1][2] Upon failing to gain a place to study agriculture, he began work at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary as a lab technician.
[2] He was involved in a number of high-profile cases, including that of the serial killers Fred and Rosemary West, and the first use of DNA to confirm the identity of a body, that of Karen Price in 1989.
Since then, he has written about thirty books, including contemporary crime fiction, historical novels about Wales, biography, non-fiction popular works on forensic medicine, twelve medico-legal textbooks and the Crowner John Mysteries series of 12th-century historical mysteries featuring one of the earliest (fictional) coroners in England.
In addition, he has written scripts for radio and television dramas and documentaries, including the forensic series The Expert starring Marius Goring, in the 1970s.
He is a founder member of The Medieval Murderers, a select group of historical crime-writers within the Crime Writers' Association, who give presentations at literary festivals, libraries and bookshops, to promote their work amongst the public.