Angela Gallop

Early life and education Gallop was born and raised in Oxford, England,

Forensic Access By 1986, Gallop felt her workload was too large and her stimulation unsatisfactory, so she established her first company, Forensic Access. She intended to provide services to criminal defence lawyers, who could not rely on the FSS expertise at the time. Her advertisements initially yielded requests for infidelity investigations, which she carried out. By the end of 1986, her business had grown enough to have full-time employees and she moved her work from her home to a proper laboratory.

Forensic Alliance Gallop founded another company, Forensic Alliance, in 1997, providing service to the police. In 1999, the company solved the 1988 murder of Lynette White after finding a microscopic flake of dried blood under two layers of new paint. The police began hiring Gallop whenever they needed to review significant cold cases. She was asked in 2003 to review the evidence in the 2000 killing of Damilola Taylor. In 2004, the Metropolitan Police commissioned her to have a look at the forensic evidence relating to the 1997 car crash deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed. Gallop found no grounds to support the claims of Fayed's father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, that the couple were killed in a conspiracy involving the British royal family.

When investigating the Pembrokeshire coastal path murders, Gallop prevailed upon the police to fund the expensive examination of trace evidence, which led to the conviction of the murderer. She considers this the most satisfying moment in her career and believes that the case would not have been solved without fiber examination. Other high-profile murder cases solved with Gallop's help include that of Rachel Nickell.

To Gallop's dismay, the UK government closed the FSS in 2012 to save funds. According to Irish forensic scientist Niamh Nic Daéid, "some people in the business" blame Gallop for the demise of the FSS because she started a competing commercial alternative to it, but she thinks such conclusions are "a bit unfair".

Other ventures Gallop started writing to record her life's work and in 2011 was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) by Nottingham Trent University, in recognition of her contribution to national and international forensic science in the support of justice. Gallop has served on the Independent Police Commission, chaired by Lord Stevens.

Gallop was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire as part of the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Popular culture Angela Gallop is portrayed by actor Anastasia Hille in the 2021 TV miniseries titled The Pembrokeshire Murders. Gallop praised Hille's talent but lamented the lack of "lightness" and "passion" in the character, observing that scientists are not constantly "very serious and very considered". She has also said that the cooperation with the police was not always so "very well mannered" and straightforward.

Gallop was also played by Nancy Carroll in the 2021 TV miniseries Stephen, a drama following the fight for justice for murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.

Gallop was a guest on Desert Island Discs on 20 October 2022.

Gallop appeared on the 2023 Paramount+ show Murder of God's Banker.