Adolescent Forensic Psychiatry SIG Annual Conference 2024 Resources 

Welcome to the Adolescent Forensic Psychiatry Special Interest Group (AFPSIG) Annual Conference 2024

Thank you for attending the event.

Dr Ciju Benjamin is an ST4 Forensic Psychiatry trainee at George Mackenzie House- low secure  unit  based at Fulbourn Hospital in Cambridge.

Kirsty Brimelow was appointed Queen’s Counsel (King’s Counsel) in 2011. She was the Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (2012-2018) and Chair of the Criminal Bar Association (2021-2023). Kirsty is the Vice Chair Elect of the Bar Council (2025).

In 2018 Kirsty won the First 100 Years Inspirational Woman in Law Barrister of the Year Award and the Bar Council’s Advocate’s pro bono International Barrister of the Year Award. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Visiting Professor at Goldsmiths Faculty of Law, University of London

Kirsty practises in criminal, international and public law from Doughty Street Chambers, with particular expertise in serious crime involving children, vulnerable people and mental health. She is an accredited mediator and acts in conflict resolution, particularly in Colombia. She is an experienced trainer, facilitator, and Conference speaker in international human rights and crime around the world, holding consultancies to the United Nations and OSCE.

Dr Duncan Harding is the College Lead for Expert Witnesses at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and a specialist member of the Parole Board for England and Wales.

Dr Amanda Holt is a Professor of Criminology at the University of Roehampton, London. She has been researching and writing about the problem of adolescent family violence for the past 15 years. She wrote the first academic book on the topic, which was followed by an edited collection on how to support such families. She recently completed a project funded by the Mayor of London which assessed adolescent family violence across London. Amanda sits on the Risk of Harm committee for Family Lives and is a member of the Advisory Board at PEGS.

Michelle John is the founding director of PEGS, a social enterprise which aims to reduce the individual and societal impact of Child to Parent Abuse. PEGS has directly supported more than 5,000 parents over the past four years. Michelle was also asked to consult on the Domestic Abuse Act by the Home Office, and has partnered with the DWP to create an Employer Covenant. Michelle’s work has been recognised by numerous national and international awards

Dr Peter Misch, Adolescent Forensic Psychiatrist (retired). Commenced work as a junior Consultant at HMYOI Feltham, progressed to the Outpatient clinic at the Maudsley Hospital London, now retired from the NHS but provide medico-legal assessments. 

Dr Andrew Newman has worked within the NHS for over 20 years in the field of mental health and as a psychologist exclusively in forensic settings. He holds the post of Consultant Clinical Psychologist in a Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. He sits on the PEGS advisory board; a social enterprise supporting parents who experience child to parent abuse. He also oversees the Psychologists working in Enhanced Case Management (ECM) in Youth Justice Services across the West Country and is clinical advisor to the BNSSG Framework for Integrated Care Vanguard Services.

In addition, he is the clinical lead for the local Mentalisation Based Treatment (MBT) Service, that runs in the National Probation Service (NPS). He is a BPC Accredited MBT Practitioner & AFC Accredited MBT Supervisor. He sits on the British Psychological Society (BPS), Forensic Faculty Committee as the child and adolescent representative and Treasurer. He also sits of the BPS Division of Clinical Psychology Executive Committee. In addition, he has an independent expert witness practice, regularly presents at conferences, has authored numerous peer reviewed journal articles, and recently co-authored a book chapter on risk assessment in intimate partner violence.

Dr Gabrielle Pendlebury, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. Upcoming book: A Brief Clinician's Guide to Inquests and the Coroner's Court.

Professor Paul Tiffin is Professor of Psychiatry and Data Science at the University of York and the Hull York Medical School. Academically, Paul is a quantitative methodologist, working in the field of 'psychometric epidemiology'- a science concerned with psychosocial measurement and prediction. Clinically, Paul works as an Honorary Consultant in the Psychiatry of Adolescence in the Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service for the Yorkshire and Humber Region.  



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This conference is eligible for up to 6 CPD hours, subject to peer group approval.

A likeable young girl burns her family home to the ground. A man has no memory of the night he killed his wife. A teenager’s visions have murderous effect. One question binds the cases of Dr Duncan Harding, Britain’s top forensic psychiatrist: Why?
Growing up in a violent home, Harding became a doctor to be good and kind. His journey brought him to psychopaths, to the limits of his compassion and to the darkest corners of his own troubled past. But he’s never turned away nor given up hope. Mesmerising, insightful and redemptive, The Criminal Mind is his unforgettable story.

 

Find out more about PEGS, supporting professionals and parents