Dr Gwen Adshead MBBS FRCPsych MA MSt

Dr Adshead is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist.  She also has a Master’s degree in Medical Law and Ethics, and a Master of Science degree in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). She has acted as an expert witness for over 20 years, but now only provides expert testimony in the family courts. She has a particular research interest in attachment theory, parents with personality disorder and medical child abuse. Her most recent book for a general audience, written with Eileen Horne, is called The Devil You Know and is published by Faber.

gadshead@forensicpsychiatrychambers.com

Dr Philip Baker MA MSc MBBS MRCPsych

Dr Baker is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist. He is the Medical Director of a large mental health NHS trust in London and also has clinical responsibility for patients with a full range of mental disorders, including mental illness, personality disorder and substance misuse problems.  He is approved under Section 12(2) of the Mental Health Act. He has extensive experience of preparing independent reports for criminal cases and for mental health tribunals.  He is an examiner for the Royal College of Psychiatrists and is an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer.

pbaker@forensicpsychiatrychambers.com

Dr Suzanne Coghlan MB BCh BAO BMedSci MRCPsych MSc FHEA

Dr Coghlan is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Forensic Psychiatrist. She became a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2010 and was awarded the Standish Barry Prize. She completed dual specialist training in Child and Adolescent Forensic Psychiatry in Oxford. In 2018, Dr Coghlan was involved in establishing the East of England Community Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. She was the Clinical Lead of this service between 2018 and 2024, before moving into independent practice. She has completed the Cardiff University Bond Solon Expert Witness Certificates in both Criminal Law and Procedure and Family Law and Procedure. She is an elected member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Child and Adolescent Faculty Executive Committee and is also a member of the Adolescent Forensic Psychiatry Special Interest Group Executive Committee.

scoghlan@forensicpsychiatrychambers.com

Dr Claire Dillon BSc MBBS MRCPsych

Dr Dillon is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist.  She has a senior managerial post in the NHS as well as having extensive experience in clinical forensic psychiatry. She has experience of acting as an expert witness in both criminal and civil cases within England and the Channel Islands. Dr Dillon is not accepting instructions but continues to be a member of Chambers to participate in the peer review process.

cdillon@forensicpsychiatrychambers.com

Prof. Michael Kopelman PhD FBPsS FRCPsych FMedSci

Prof. Kopelman is Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychiatry at King’s College London (IoPPN), and was formerly based at St Thomas’s Hospital, London. He has acted as an expert witness in cases involving neuropsychiatric or memory disorders, including amnesia for an offence, false confessions, civil liberties (detainees, control orders, Guantanamo returnees), death row, extradition proceedings, and some civil cases mainly involving head injury. He has been involved in criminal, Appeal Court, House of Lords/Supreme Court, Privy Council, and United Nations-sponsored cases. Prof. Kopelman is not accepting instructions but continues to be a member of Chambers to participate in the peer review process.

mkopelman@forensicpsychiatrychambers.com

Dr Richard Latham MBBS MRCPsych LLM

Dr Latham is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist. He is a clinician and manager in the NHS. He has clinical experience in mental illness, personality disorder and intellectual disability services. He has provided reports in complex medico-legal issues in criminal, civil and tribunal proceedings for 20 years. He has also conducted assessments and reported in foreign jurisdictions.  He holds a Master’s degree in Mental Health Law and his thesis for this degree related to the utility and limits of mental health expert evidence. He is an author of The Oxford Handbook of Forensic Psychiatry. He teaches on the role of psychiatrists as expert witnesses to various professionals in the United Kingdom and around the world.

rlatham@forensicpsychiatrychambers.com

Dr Matthew Loughran BSc MBChB MSc MRCPsych

Dr Loughran is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist. He has clinical responsibilities working on a medium-secure admissions ward in the NHS. He has previously worked as a consultant in low-secure and community forensic services. He has clinical experience in mental illness, personality disorder, and substance use disorders. He is approved under Section 12(2) of the Mental Health Act and has extensive experience in preparing independent reports for criminal cases and mental health tribunals. He holds a Master’s degree in Mental Health Ethics & Law from King’s College London, writing his thesis on the subject of objectivity at the interface of psychiatry and law. He is a lead author on several peer-reviewed articles regarding mental health and law and is an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London.

mloughran@forensicpsychiatrychambers.com

Dr Marc Lyall BSc MBBS MRCPsych DipFMH LLM MAcadMED

Dr Lyall is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist.  He has specialist accreditation in both General and Forensic Psychiatry.  His medico-legal work is split between family, criminal and civil law. He has been instructed in over 700 family law cases, including in care and adoption proceedings, and considering issues including contact and residency.  He has been instructed in over 800 criminal law cases including involving defendants charged with murder and serious sexual offences.  He has prepared around 100 reports in civil proceedings, consisting of reports concerning negligence and housing law. Dr Lyall is an examiner for the Royal College of Psychiatrists and an elected member of the Executive Committee of the Forensic Faculty of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He acts as an External Adviser on behalf of the Royal College and is a Specialist Adviser in Forensic Psychiatry to the CQC.  He is an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry.

mlyall@forensicpsychiatrychambers.com

Prof. Gillian Mezey MBBS FRCPsych

Prof. Mezey is Emeritus Professor of Forensic Psychiatry based at City St George’s, University of London, and an Honorary Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at South West London and St George’s NHS Mental Health Trust. She currently has clinical sessions with Practitioner Health, which is a national service providing mental health and addiction services to health care professionals. She was until December 2021 a specialist psychiatric member of the Parole Board for England and Wales. She has expertise in the assessment and treatment of individuals with severe mental illness, personality disorder and psychological trauma and has published extensively in these areas, specifically focusing on the effects of sexual and domestic violence and their relationship to offending behaviour. Her publications include textbooks on male rape, psychological trauma, violence against women and social inclusion and over 100 peer-reviewed research publications. Her current research is focused on social exclusion and stigma experienced by individuals with mental health problems. She has extensive experience of giving expert evidence in both criminal and civil cases in the UK, including the UK Court of Appeal cases, the International Criminal Court in The Hague and international jurisdictions e.g. Court of Appeal, Belize.

gcmezey@forensicpsychiatrychambers.com

Dr Norman Poole MD (Res), FRCPsych, MSc

Dr Poole is a Consultant Neuropsychiatrist. He works at The Maudsley Hospital, London with a special interest in functional neurological symptoms and the neuropsychiatry of cognitive and motor disorders. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, holds a Master’s degree in the philosophy of mental disorder, and an MD (Res) in Neuropsychiatry. He has published over 50 papers in peer-reviewed academic journals and is the recipient of an NIHR grant conducting a randomised controlled trial of a novel psychological treatment for functional cognitive disorders. He previously edited the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Neuropsychiatry Newsletter (2012-17) and the BJPsych Bulletin (2018-22). In March 2021, Dr Poole was nominated onto the board of directors for the British Neuropsychiatric Association (BNPA). He is also a member of the Independent Medical Expert Group (IMEG), an advisory non-departmental public body that advises the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans on medical and scientific aspects of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) and related matters. Dr Poole acts as an independent medical expert in both criminal and civil cases.

npoole@forensicpsychiatrychambers.com

Dr Cleo Van Velsen MBBS MRCPsych MBPsychoanalytic Soc.

Dr Van Velsen is a Consultant Psychiatrist in Forensic Psychotherapy. She was previously the Responsible Clinician in the Personality Disorder Medium Secure Unit in East London and is now Consultant Psychiatrist in the Family Trauma Team at the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families and in private practice. She is also a member of the British Psychoanalytical Society. She worked full-time for one year in the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. She has extensive experience in the assessment, management and treatment of those suffering with personality difficulties, violence and trauma. She is a member of the Factitious and Induced Illness Reference Group at the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a member of the Psychoanalysis and Law Committee of the International Psychoanalytic Association. She has carried out assessments in the Family, Civil and Criminal Courts. She is the co-editor of a textbook on Forensic Psychotherapy and section editor of the Edinburgh International Encyclopaedia of Psychoanalysis, as well as contributing chapters to other publications. She regularly teaches and presents.

cvvelsen@forensicpsychiatrychambers.com

Dr Hannah Kate Williams MBChB BSc(Hons) MRCPsych

Dr Williams is a Consultant in Forensic Psychiatry, Medical Psychotherapy and Forensic Psychotherapy. She is an author of the Oxford University Press Handbook of Forensic Psychiatry 2nd Edition and has a number of research publications. She completed an MSc in Epidemiology, training at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine with a GPA of 5/5 in Advanced Statistics. Her undergraduate degrees are in Medicine and Healthcare Law and Ethics, with first-class honours. She is a Mentalization-Based Therapy for Adolescents Trainer and Supervisor at the Anna Freud Centre, an Associate Member of the Institute of Group Analysis and a Candidate at the Institute of Psychoanalysis. She won research prizes from the Royal College of Psychiatrists Forensic Faculty Conference in 2009 and 2018, and a three-year Academic Clinical Fellowship grant from the National Institute for Health Research in 2012. Currently she works at HMP Wandsworth and is an Honorary BPC Registered Forensic Psychotherapist at the Portman Clinic. She has a broad interest in psychiatry as it applies to British law.

hkwilliams@forensicpsychiatrychambers.com

Dr Helen Youngman MBBS BSc MRCPsych

Dr Youngman is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist. She is working in the NHS as a prison psychiatrist in both the male and female pathways. She was previously the Responsible Clinician for male rehab and acute admission wards in a medium secure setting and held the position of Postgraduate Lead in Medical Education for the Forensic Service. She is an examiner for the Royal College of Psychiatrists and an elected member of the Executive Committee of the Forensic Faculty of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. She is approved under Section 12(2) of the Mental Health Act and has extensive experience in preparing independent reports for criminal and civil cases as well as mental health tribunals.

hyoungman@forensicpsychiatrychambers.com