Chris Hester
Risk Management & Emergency Planning Consultant 
 

Chris Hester MSc CIPBI MIABTI MCFS TInSTR has a Master of Science degree in Forensic Explosive & Explosion Investigation and is a member of both the International Association of Bomb Technicians & Investigators and the Chartered Society of Forensic Science, is a Technician of the Institute of Search & Technical Rescue and a Certified International Post Blast Investigator. He has recently retired having completed thirty years’ service in the Met Police; the last twenty-three years of which has been spent in CT policing in the fields of specialist search, CBRN and bomb scene investigation.

 

Throughout his career he has been involved in numerous highly challenging searches not only in the CT sphere but also in some of the UK's most high profile missing persons cases, specialising in the management of complex large open area searches. As the UK police’s Senior Bomb Scene Investigator, Chris was responsible for investigating the Improvised Explosive Devices (IED’s) used in the 2017 Manchester Arena and Parsons Green bombings and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital bombing in 2021 as well as numerous other incidents during his eleven years’ service in the Police National Bomb Data Centre.

 

He is a recognised expert witness on IED’s and is a Visiting Fellow at the Cranfield University Forensic Institute. Chris has been appointed as a forensic expert for the Omagh Bombing Inquiry. 

Chris holds a valid UK Security Clearance at CTC Level but has held vetting at DV level previously.​