John holds an MSc in Forensic Osteology from Bournemouth University, a Postgraduate Certificate in the Education of Adults (PGCEA) from the University of Surrey and a BSc (Hons) in Zoology from Royal Holloway, University of London. After completing his master's degree in forensic osteology John was employed as a Volume Crime Scene Investigator (VCSI) for Surrey Police, where he documented and gathered evidence from scenes of volume crime. As part of his duties he also carried out bone identifications when unidentified bones were found by members of the public. Prior to working as a VCSI, for ten years John was a further and higher education lecturer and course leader in the zoological sciences, where he taught human and comparative anatomy, physiology, ecology, evolution and other related disciplines.

John's research is focusing on the diagnostic signatures of ballistic impacts to bone, determining how those signatures are modified by extrinsic and intrinsic factors during the impact event, and how those signatures are modified in the taphonomic environment.