David Wilson (criminologist)

David Wilson (born April 1957, near Glasgow) is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Birmingham City University.

Wilson studied at the University of Glasgow (1975–79), Selwyn College, Cambridge, and at the Cambridge Institute of Criminology, where he gained a PhD in 1983. He joined Her Majesty's Prison Service as a junior prison governor. It is often stated that at the age of 29, he became the youngest governor in the country. That assertion is based the fact that he was a junior governor grade who was briefly in charge of Finnamore Wood camp, which was a small annexe to HM YOI Huntercombe. He worked at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, HMP Grendon, HMP Woodhill, and HM YOI Finnamore Wood, though he was never appointed as governor in charge of a prison. Whilst at HMP Woodhill, Wilson designed and managed the two units for the twelve most disruptive prisoners in the country. Latterly he was Head of Prison officer and Operational Training in the Prison Service - on whose behalf he made official visits to Northern Ireland and the U.S., and on behalf of the Council of Europe to Albania.

He resigned from Her Majesty's Prison Service in protest at prison conditions. After a short time with the Prison Reform Trust, he joined University of Central England in Birmingham (now Birmingham City University) and was given a professorship in 2000. He has published widely on the criminal justice system generally and prisons specifically, and is the Editor of The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice. He appears regularly on the TV and radio both as a commentator about the criminal justice system and as a presenter.

Wilson's interests range from practical interventions in current debates in criminal justice policy and practice, to more academic considerations of portrayals of prisons and prisoners in literature. He has recently completed an assessment of Charles Dickens' reportage of prisons, to be published as 'Testing a Civilisation – Charles Dickens on the American Penitentiary System' in Essays in Honour of Professor W R Brock.

He is Vice-Chair of the Howard League for Penal Reform; a trustee of New Bridge; former Chair of the Forum on Prisoner Education; and a patron of the Friends of Grendon Prison. He is married to a lawyer and they live in Buckinghamshire with their two children.

He is the Editor of The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice - one of the premier criminology journals in the UK, and is the author of at least 15 books. His most recent work is A History of British Serial Killing (London: Sphere). He is a regular contributor to the press and broadcaster who writes mostly for The Guardian. On TV he presented four series of The Crime Squad for BBC1, and also Leave No Trace and Too Young to Die? about the plight of young people on death row in the USA. On BBC2 he presented Who Killed Ivan the Terrible? and was an expert on the game show Identity. His last series was Banged Up for Channel 5 which was nominated for an RTS award.

References

External links

• David Wilson's Homepage
• Academic Profile - Centre for Criminal Justice Policy and Research - UCE Birmingham
• Academic Profile - LHDS Research Site - UCE Birmingham
• David Wilson's TV credits at Curtis Brown Literary and Talent Agency

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Name	Wilson, David
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Date of birth	1960
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