Recognising & responding to defendants with intellectual disability in court settings

Forensic Science International: Mind and Law (2023) Recognising & responding to defendants with intellectual disability in court settings

To date, there is little evidence on the characteristics of defendants with intellectual disability when presenting to the criminal court system. This study was developed to recognise and examine the characteristics related to gender, ethnicity, mental health and index offences of defendants with intellectual disability and compare these to defendants without intellectual disability within Court Liaison & Diversion Services in London, England.

The findings of this study confirm the presence of a small but significant number of defendants with intellectual disability presenting to the Court Liaison & Diversion services who have significant needs in terms of comorbidity and risk for suicide and self-harm behaviour.