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Legal, criminological and forensic

Miscarriage of justice event

Ella Rhodes on a British Academy of Forensic Sciences conference.

13 April 2018

Little is more troubling than the thought of innocent people being wrongly convicted and imprisoned. The British Academy of Forensic Sciences is holding a conference in May to discuss miscarriages of justice from many different angles, featuring a fascinating line-up of speakers.

Emeritus Professor of Forensic Psychology Gisli Hannes Gudjonsson (Kings College, London) will be speaking about false confessions. Gudjonsson, also a Professor of Psychology at Reykjavik University, has studied interrogative suggestibility, psychological vulnerabilities, false confessions and police interviews and provided expert evaluation in the Brimingham Six and Guildford Four cases along with many others.

Bernice Andrews, Emeritus Professor (Royal Holloway, University of London) has researched recovered memories in therapy, the nature of sexual abuse victims’ memories, PTSD in violent crime victims, and delayed-onset PTSD in military veterans. Her talk will explore the importance of unbiased expert testimony in historic abuse cases.

Neuropsychiatry Professor Michael Kopelman, who has appeared as an expert witness in a number of Appeal Court cases, will discuss psychiatric cases which have involved a miscarriage of justice. Senior Partner at Birnberg Pierce Solicitors Gareth Peirce, who worked on the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four cases, will outline the legal aspects of miscarriages of justice.

Former BBC journalist Louise Shorter, who founded Inside Justice – a miscarriage of justice charity – will speak about her work helping prisoners who say they’re innocent. Forensic Scientist Dr Ann Priston OBE, who during her early career worked on DNA synthesis in the Nobel Prize winning team at Kings College London, will discuss whether misunderstandings can lead to miscarriages of justice. His Honour John Samuels QC, who was a deputy High Court Judge for 16 years before his appointment as a full-time Circuit Judge, will explore the politics of wrongful conviction.  

The event is being held on Saturday 5 May at Bush House, part of King’s College London, from 9am until 4pm.