I've just come across this murder trial. So a man's dead body was found lying in the countryside near Aberfeldy. He had 30 injuries from shotgun pellets and pellets were literally falling out of his body. A detective constable arrived at the scene, had a quick look at the body, which was partially covered in a blanket which the detective didn't bother to remove, and decided that the dead man must have had a fall. He reported the death as unsuspicious, so the area wasn't sealed off, forensics wasn't called, etc. The Emergency Services apparently assumed that the man had suffered a heart attack. It was several days before any forensics were carried out.
It's fair to say that this detective wasn't exactly Sherlock Holmes, and the paramedics don't seem to have covered themselves in glory either. What a shambles for the dead man and his family. His long term partner wasn't told that he had been shot until 5 days after his death.
How about introducing a new lesson at Scotland's Detective Training Academy: "Lesson 1 - Walk up to the body and take a good look at it before making a decision on the cause of death (extra brownie points if you can tell whether someone is dead or alive). The presence of bullets or shotgun pellets and/or wounds from the above is indicative of a non-accidental death."
www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/constable-challenged-on-glaring-mistake-after-shotgun-death-murder-trial-told/ar-AA1VPDAX?ocid