Visiting Professor and Barrister, Centre for Research in Law

I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Criminology and Penal Science from the University of South Africa, and worked with the South African National Institute for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of Offenders. I subsequently undertook a Master of Laws degree in Legal Aspects of Medical Practice at Cardiff Law School. I also hold a Certificate in Forensic Psychotherapy, and trained as a family mediator in 2006. Having completed the Graduate Diploma in Law at Oxford Brookes University, I embarked on the BVC through the Inns of Court School of Law. Having been called to the Bar, I am a barrister of the Inner Temple.

I am a member of the Family Law Bar Association, a member of Resolution and a member of the Association of Lawyers for Children. I am also a member of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts in the USA and an Associate Fellow of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies. In 2006, I was invited to become a member of the Bedfordshire and Luton Family Justice Council and I now sit on the Local Family Justice Board. I have a particular interest in vulnerable witness and special measures in court, and contribute to advocacy training at the Bar.

In 2007, I was appointed to the Tribunals Service by the Lord Chancellor, and I am ticketed for both Disability Living Allowance and Employment Support Allowance tribunals. I was also appointed by the British Board of Film Classification to sit on their Video Appeals Committee in 2011. More recently, I have been appointed to the Disregard Ministerial Advisory Panel at the Home Office in relation to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

I am also a qualified doctor, and practice within the NHS as a Consultant in Child, Adolescent and Family Psychiatry. I am a member of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians, a Member of the British Academy of Forensic Sciences and a member of the Society of Doctors in Law. In 2012, I was also appointed as a Regional Medical Appraiser for the Tribunal Service and I was a Section 12 approved doctor for the purposes of the Mental Health Act.

I am a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrist, and sit as the Vice-Chair of the Royal College's Human Rights Committee. I have provided therapeutic treatment within prison settings, and regularly appear in court in regard to criminal, civil and family law proceedings. I undertake medico-legal work in child protection, parenting, divorce, personal injury and medical negligence. I am a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Health Research at the University of Bedfordshire, a Visiting Professor at the Post-Graduate Medical Institute at Anglia Ruskin University and Secretary of the Association of Clinical Professors of Psychiatry.

Research Interests

• International child abduction and the Hague Convention
• Vulnerable witnesses and special measures in court
• Removal of children from the jurisdiction
• Special educational needs and the law
• Social security legislation and mental health
• Human rights of young people