CHAIR: NEIL CORNEY
Neil Corney has been a Research Associate at the Omega Research Foundation since 1996. His work has included research and analysis of the human rights impacts of less lethal weapons and use force by police worldwide, including for example analysis of kinetic impact projectile use in Northern Ireland, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and South Africa amongst others. He has presented on these topics to the EU, Council of Europe and the UN Human Rights Council and regularly provides policy advice on aspects of the international trade and use of police and prison weapons and equipment. He was a member of the core Academic Working Group which developed the 2020 UN Guidance on Less Lethal Weapons. He is currently Chair of the UK’s National Taser Stakeholder Advisory Group (NTSAG) and attends the UK National Police Chiefs Council Less Lethal Weapons Working Group.
He has a Bsc and MSc in Chemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.
VICE CHAIR ALASTAIR LOGAN OBE
Retired Solicitor. Worked on Human Rights during a career spanning 43 years as a high street sole practitioner solicitor doing crime and matrimonial work. Solicitor to the Guildford Four, Maguire Seven and Judith Ward – cases of miscarriage of Justice. A pioneer of the law in relation to Prisoner’s Rights using Judicial Review and the ECHR. His headline cases were Campbell & Fell v UK, Ex Parte St Germain and Ex Parte Tarrant and Leyland. Sat on the Law Society’s Committee which presented evidence to the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice in 1993 and sat on the Law Society’s Human Rights Committee for 9 years. Law Society Council Member for the Surrey Constituency appointed 2019. Author of many articles on human rights issues including Taser.
Read Law at University College London. Awarded an OBE for services to Justice in 2002.
VICE CHAIR: MARTYN UNDERHILL MBE
A retired Police Officer who ran several high-profile murder enquiries, retired in 2009. Then elected as the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) from 2012/2021, during which time he represented PCC’s nationally on Fraud, Brexit, Police Use of Force, Mental Health and Forensics.
Since standing down 12 months ago, Martyn has become a Senior Lecturer at Bournemouth University, leading on Forensic Psychology. He is also an associate of Chaucer, Bruck Payne and City Forum as well as being the Chair of the Independent Custody Visiting Association nationally. Martyn is a Lay Canon of Salisbury Cathedral, and Chair or trustee of several charities in Dorset.
Martyn was awarded an MBE in this years New Years Honours List for services to Mental Health awareness and support.
OLIVER FEELEY-SPRAGUE:
Current Programme lead for Amnesty International’s work on military, security and policing issues. He leads the organisations work on less lethal weapons as well as helps to develop global policy framework and advocacy in these areas. He has held this position since 2006. He has 27 years of experience working on conflict, security, disarmament and human rights issues.
He has a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the University of Southampton.
NICK GLYNN: Msc
Senior Program Officer at Open Society Foundations (OSF). He leads work on police accountability in Europe, with a focus on police powers, police use of force/violence, and protest as well as work on drug policy reform, mandatory detention and discrimination within the criminal legal system.
Prior to joining OSF, Nick spent 30 years as a police officer with Leicestershire Police (UK), rising to the rank of chief inspector. He has extensive experience as a public order bronze commander and silver firearms commander. He is an expert witness on police use of force, stop and search and racial profiling. Since 2005 Glynn has worked extensively in support of OSF’s work as an expert on policing in Belgium, France, Holland, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. From 2010, Nick led reforms to Leicestershire Police’s use of stop and search and in 2014 was appointed national lead on stop and search for the College of Policing. He has written for the Guardian, The Times, the Independent, and the Huffington Post.
Nick read law at Nottingham Trent University and has a Master’s (M.Sc) in applied criminology from the University of Cambridge.
LOUISE KING:
Director, Children’s Rights Alliance for England, part of Just for Kids Law Louise has been the Director of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) since 2015 and is also the Director of Policy and Campaigns at Just for Kids Law (JfKL). Louise has over 20 years’ experience working in policy and public affairs, specialising in children’s rights. Louise has also facilitated numerous participatory workshops for children to learn about their rights and supported children and young people to advocate for the realisation of their rights across many policy areas, including protection from violence, immigration, homelessness, and reform of the Children’s Commissioner for England. Before joining CRAE, Louise worked at Save the Children and the British Youth Council and she has also been Vice President of Euronet, the European Children’s Network.
KATRINA FFRENCH
Guided by her unwavering commitment to social justice and racial equity, Katrina is the founding director of UNJUST C.I.C. UNJUST is a London based organisation with a national remit operating within the field of criminal justice. On a mission to address discriminatory police practices and policies, UNJUST is committed to reimagining policing, promoting public safety and empowering the people to be active agents of change. By undertaking research, policy development and advocacy activities in collaboration with civil society partners, academics and those from impacted communities, UNJUST addresses both ongoing and emergent matters of concern. Adopting a holistic working approach UNJUST offers a range of services that can be accessed by children, young people, parents, and professionals.
Formerly the chief executive of StopWatch, Katrina has overseen the publication of several evidenced-based reports and has led on a range of advocacy initiatives aimed at influencing policy and practice. A confident and effective communicator, she has a wealth of public speaking experience and in June 2020 provided oral evidence to the Home Affairs Committee –The Macpherson Report: twenty-one years on inquiry. Since 2015 Katrina has actively volunteered her time to provide community scrutiny of the policing power of Stop and Search. Katrina has also held the vice-chair and chair positions on The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime Pan-London Stop and Search Community Monitoring Network. Katrina has experience in sitting on local community partnerships and acted as an executive member of The Islington Safer Neighbourhood Board.
PROFESSOR GISLI HANNES GUDJONSSON CBE
Gisli Hannes Gudjonsson is an Emeritus Professor of Forensic Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London. Prior to his retirement from King’s College in January 2012, he was the Head of Clinical Forensic Psychology Services for the Lambeth Forensic Services and Medium Secure Unit at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLaM).
Professor Gudjonsson is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a registered practitioner (clinical and forensic) with the United Kingdom Health Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Professor Gudjonsson was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s Birthday 2011 Honours List for services to clinical psychology.
Research: Professor Gudjonsson pioneered the empirical measurement of interrogative suggestibility and has published extensively in the areas of psychological vulnerabilities, false confessions, and police interviewing. He has published almost 400 peer reviewed articles, 12 books (three as sole author), and 74 book chapters/articles. In addition, he produced two influential research reports for the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice:
Professional awards: Professor Gudjonsson was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine in 2001 by the University of Iceland for services to forensic psychiatry and psychology. He has also been awarded three Lifetime Achievement Awards.
In 2009 The British Psychological Society presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2012 The European Association of Psychology and Law (EAPL) presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his ‘Lifetime contribution to the field of psychology and law’. Finally in 2017 The Tom Williamson (illRG) Lifetime Achievement Award ‘In recognition for his outstanding lifetime achievement to the area of investigative interviewing’.