Royal Holloway Eyewitness Group

Recently launched, The Advocates Gateway provides practical training tool-kits for all practitioners working with young and vulnerable witnesses. The Gateway aims to improve the questioning of young and vulnerable eyewitnesses, making practitioners aware of their questioning style. The Advocate’s Gateway is hosted by the Advocacy Training Council and is managed by the ATC’s Vulnerable Witness …

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The Scottish Government plans to remove the requirement for corroborating evidence through a change in Scots law and this is being met with fierce opposition from lawyers.  Their concern is that removing the requirement of corroboration will increase chances of there being a miscarriage of justice. Click here for more information.

American Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito must face a retrial over the killing in 2007 of her UK flatmate, Meredith Kercher, Italy’s highest court has ruled. Click here for the BBC news article about the case.

The recent trial of Vicky Pryce to determine whether she obstructed the course of justice by taking her former husband’s penalty points for speeding has been forced to take a retrial due to the dismissal of the jury. Some of the questions raised by the jury lead the presiding Judge in the case, Mr Justice …

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On the 10th December, 2012, Kent Police (UK) began a trial of a crime prediction model developed by academics in California, PredPol. PredPol is a computer algorithm that analyses crime statistics and aims to predict, in real-time, what criminal behaviour is likely to be taking place and where. The hope is that forces can utilise …

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Do you have experience of Autism and the Criminal Justice System, or do you know someone who has?   Dr Katie Maras, Dr Laura Crane and Professor Amina Memon comprise a small team of researchers who are looking at people’s experiences of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the Criminal Justice System (CJS). We would really …

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Non-Believed Memories in Older Adult Witnesses Do you have a memory for an event you know didn’t happen? The Royal Holloway Eyewitness Group are currently looking into these types of memories and are recruiting for our latest study. If you would be interested in taking part, or know somebody who might be, please keep reading …

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An ESRC funded project, with collaborations between Amina Memon (Royal Holloway), Rebecca Milne (University of Portsmouth) and Daniel Wright (Florida International University), has resulted in the production of guidance for police forces on using video identification parades. The project is the first to evaluate the outcome of current procedures for obtaining identification evidence from eyewitnesses …

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Nine men are currently standing trial in the UK for51 counts a including rape, forcing a child into prostitution and trafficking. A number of the victims are expected to give evidence at the trial and are doing so through the use of  special measures – which help protect the victim/witness from further trauma in the …

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From all of us here at the Royal Holloway Eyewitness Group, we would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. To round off 2012 – the Eyewitness Group had a murder mystery dinner party at Amina’s house. Accusations were made, witnesses were interviewed and a lot of bad accents were present. Watch this space …

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