Finding someones real age...

[sandyRoe]

A judge in Turkey has ordered that a young man accused of murdering two Irish women must give bone marrow samples in order to ascertain his real age. Is this an accurate process?

[anneasquith]

ive never heard of that before, sandy.

[daffy654]

Why is his age relevant to the case? Is it because he could be tried as a minor or an adult depending on the results of the test?

[boxtops]

I have absolutely no idea what this means, but the title seems to suggest that marrow changes with age? http://staging2.ortho...volution/Stolzing.pdf

[sunny-dave]

He claims to be 17 - and hence would be tried as a juvenile - the prosecution want him tried as an adult & therefore facing more severe penalties if convicted.

[jno]

couldn't they carbon-date him?

[China Doll]

We've had to send a couple of lads to the dentists to get their actual ages. They came here illegally and claimed to be between 14 - 17 but apparently their ball size and volume puts them both at older... No idea if this is an exact science or not. It's part of their claim for asylm I think.

[Teddy_boy]

Either cut them in half and count the rings or cremate them then carbon date them.Though both are a tad extreme i will admit.

[roger]

Don't know how aqccurate it is but bone marrow sampling is I gather fairly painful so maybe the judge just wanted him to suffer !

[Sqad]

A simple way would be to look at the ossification centres in the bone and this could be done by conventional X-Rays to a reassuring degree of accuracy.

Bone marrow extraction on a case like this would amount to physical assault.

[ChuckFickens]

Just to be a pedant to all the people that said carbon dating (I know it was in jest) but you can only carbon date how long it's been since something died, not how long somethings been alive.

[jomifl]

^ But probably not in Turkey
Hi Sqad, feeling better?

[Mosaic]

Biological age is not a close guide to chronological age.
Archaeologists tested this quite well 1984-86 at Christ Church Spitalfields, London. The 18th century bodies were excavated from the crypt and were identifiable from records and coffin labels, but forensic work done 'blind' on the basis of tooth condition and bone condition gave widely different results - often for the same person.

[Mosaic]

Interesting one from China Doll - I've had experience of some heavily bearded youths being presented for Year 7......

[ChuckFickens]

Every time I read china's answer I can't help thinking "they measured how loud their balls where!!" :)

[sandyRoe]

http://www.google.co....ed=0CCwQ9QEwAg&dur=34

Here's a picture of him with the daughter of one of the women he's alleged to have killed.

[sandyRoe]

Year 7, would that make them 12 year olds?

[Mosaic]

Yep, Year 7 is what you would have called year 1 ie first year of secondary school.
The guy in the photo looks about 25 to me, so that would be Year 9 for a new arrival in burnley.....ooh did I write that out loud?

[sandyRoe]

Or even, 'how loud their bawls were...' The voice deepens with ago.

[venator]

Bone Xrays showing the stage of development of joints are pretty good.

[jno]

well, that's what made it a jest, Chuck