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David’s doctoral research centres around the use of AI and emerging technologies in the criminal justice systems of both England and Wales and Japan. He has had long term involvement in the criminal justice system in England and Wales as a practitioner and trade union activist, and more recently as a policy lead.

Ralph works as a Research Associate on an ESRC-funded project, ‘Measuring Special Measures: Supporting access to justice for autistic people’. This project investigates the provision and impact of Special Measures for autistic people’s participation in court settings.
Michelle is currently working with colleagues at the University of Bath and the University of Birmingham on a research project which is exploring autistic adults’ experience of Special Measures in justice systems.
Dr Maya Flax has published on issues of hate crime and bystanders to hate crime, with her most recent research comparing the three most targeted religious hate crime groups. She is in the process of conducting research on jury deliberations as well as on hate crime victims who occupy multiple minority identities.
Professor Laura Crane’s research centres on identifying evidence-based ways to support autistic people within the criminal justice system (CJS). She has previously researched the experiences of autistic people (and the legal professionals who work with them) in relation to the CJS, while her most current work focuses on evaluating the use of special measures with autistic people in court.

Emma Robinson is currently researching the provision of staff support in HMPPS for a Masters thesis at Leeds Trinity University. On top of this, Emma works as a prison officer on the induction unit, having also done stints in the vulnerable peoples unit. Her sensitivity and dedication was recognised at the annual HMPSS Wales Awards earlier this year, where she won Prison Officer of the Year in the Changing Lives category.

Dr Marian Duggan is a reader in Criminology, whose research centres around the efficacy and impact of policies and practices aimed at preventing sexual and/or domestic violence. This has  included analysis of Clare’s Law, and sexual misconduct in university settings.

Gemma’s research interests lie in desistance, digital technology in desistance-orientated work, youth justice, evaluation methodology, & co-production. Gemma’s underpinning research ethos is collaborative, emphasising the importance of interdisciplinary and impactful work. She works closely with several public, private, and third-sector organisations to advance knowledge transfer between academia and practice 

Tania Goddard is a PhD student at the University of Salford whose research explores whether people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) can be fit to plead, stand trial and effectively participate in criminal proceedings. 

Ravinderjit Briah lectures on programmes for Trainee Prohabition officers, police officers and undergraduate criminlogy students at De Montfort University, one of the four universities offering probation training in the country on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. Ravinderjit led the tender and design of a new Justice Leaders Masters programme for the Ministry of Justice, and her career to date has focused on improving policy and practice in Probation and resettlement work, with a particular focus on enhancing outcomes for ethnic minorities. 

Lucy Harding is a doctoral candidate exploring the experiences of educators within prisons. Lucy has previously been an education manager within a male, category B prison, and is interested in the impact of prison spaces, focusing on atmospheres. Lucy’s research utilises creative methodologies such as walking intra-views, drawing and textiles to enable teachers to share their experiences in different ways. The research outcomes will support the training of new teachers and the continuing professional and emotional development of teachers working in carceral settings. 

Dr Anthony Drummond is a senior lecturer whose work explores gypsies and travellers’ experiences of crime and justice since the 1960s. Anthony acts as a critical friend to the Leeds CPS Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel and is currently researching the experience of gay men during The Troubles in Northern Ireland.  

Dr Mary Fraser is a modern social historian of the police. Her current work considers the extended role of the police, particularly in preventing civil unrest in the First World War. Her primary data sources are occupations journals. aims to produce research that informs policy and practice and advances our understanding of justice.

Madeline is an Associate Professor at the University of Greenwich. Madeline’s research interests are focused on women’s experiences in the justice system and trauma-informed approaches to rehabilitative practice. Madeline is professionally qualified as a Probation Officer and has specialised in working with women on community supervision and in custody. She has previously acted as Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) Community Justice/Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) – the qualifying award for trainee Probation Officers.

David Adlington-Rivers is a PhD researcher exploring hope and resilience for people in and released from prison, and the role it plays in crime desistance. David has published a self-help book, Freedom is in the Mind, about the power of hope for people in prison.

Dr Natalie Rutter’s current research work focuses on the stigmatisation of criminalised women, and the role of social media within this. General research interests and focus fall within the areas of desistance, gender, stigmatisation and probation delivery with a focus on narrative, visual and inclusion methodologies.

Sarah Learmonth’s PhD research explores the effectiveness of bail use in rape cases from the perspective of adult female survivors and is an extension of her Masters study on bail use in rape cases.

The methodology includes primary interviews with women survivors and professionals in universities, police, social care, housing, barristers, solicitors and magistrates to explore what influence bail as protection discourse has on their affective evaluation of survivor allegations and claims to protection in the wider safeguarding framework. Survivors’ voices, indeed victims of any offence, have been consistently absent from any government consultations, policy, or legislation reform on bail, so it is in this context she argues the nexus of myth, discourse and affect serve ideological agendas with regard to the use of bail in rape cases, inhibiting knowledge construction in favour of preserving systemic authority.

A key focus of Professor Layla Skinns’ research is police detention, in England and Wales, but also in other parts of the Anglophone world. In this setting, Layla examines police powers and their relationship with the law, police cultures and police discretion, and furthermore, how this impacts on equality and on state-citizen relations. She is also interested in how the public – particularly detainees – perceive the police, which links her research to police legitimacy and ‘good’ policing.

Over the last 15 years she has led research projects funded by the British Academy, the Howard League for Penal Reform and the Economic and Social Research Council. The most recent of these is the ‘good’ police custody study, which sought to ‘robustly’ examine what is meant by ‘good’ police custody and to instigate changes to police custody policies and practices in England and Wales.

Professor Nicholas Hardwick’s research, teaching and practice builds and reflects on his previous roles leading organisations in the CJS. Nicholas’ particular interests are accountability in the criminal justice system, the administration and management of the prison system, and the impact on and implications of digital technologies for justice.

Professor Annison’s interest centre on how political and policy making dynamics relate to penal change. Substantively, his areas of interest mainly include probation and parole.