Dr Laura Farrugia

Assistant Professor

Department: Psychology

Dr Laura Farrugia is an Assistant Professor at Northumbria University and a Registered Intermediary. Laura’s research focuses on vulnerability in the Criminal Justice System (CJS), confessions and false confessions, with a strong emphasis on interviewing vulnerable victims, witnesses, and suspects. She has published extensively in this area and her research drives her practice as a Registered Intermediary where she advises police officers and Courts on the most appropriate manner to interview or cross-examine vulnerable victims and witnesses. Laura regularly delivers training to national and international bodies on how best to communicate effectively with vulnerable individuals. In addition, Laura is the inventor of the Forensic Interview Trace - an app that has been developed to assist officers in evaluating their interviews.

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Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Interviewing of suspects with mental health conditions and disorders in England and Wales: A Paradigm Shift, Farrugia, L. 27 Apr 2022
Identifying vulnerability in police custody: Making sense of information provided to custody officers, Farrugia, L. 1 May 2021, In: Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
Forensic interviewing of mentally disordered suspects: The impact of interview style on investigation outcomes., Farrugia, L., Gabbert, F. 1 May 2022, In: Current Psychology
Effective evaluation of forensic interviews: The Forensic Interview Trace (FIT), Farrugia, L., Oxburgh, G., Gabbert, F. 7 Aug 2019, In: Investigative interviewing: Research and Practice
The “appropriate adult”: What they do and what they should do in police interviews with mentally disordered suspects, Farrugia, L., Gabbert, F. 1 Jun 2019, In: Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health
Vulnerable suspects in police interviews: Exploring current practice in England and Wales, Farrugia, L., Gabbert, F. 1 Jan 2020, In: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling
Ground Rules Hearings, Cooper, P., Farrugia, L. 31 Aug 2017, Vulnerable People and the Criminal Justice System, Oxford, Oxford University Press
Police officers' perceptions and experiences with mentally disordered suspects., Farrugia, L., Gabbert, F., Milne, R., Cherryman, J. 16 Nov 2016, In: International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
Suspect interviewing and mental health in the UK: An overview., Farrugia, L., Milne, R. 2012, In: Investigative interviewing: Research and Practice
Involuntary hospitalisation: A form of social control?, Farrugia, L. 1 Sep 2010, In: Psych-Talk

Current and Recent Projects

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
The Forensic Interview Trace Website, Farrugia, L. (Principal Investigator), RIS Internal Funding, 01/01/23 - 31/12/23, £5,500.00

Professional Activity

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Invited talk: Interviewing and Vulnerability: Is current practice best practice? 2022
Invited talk: Identifying vulnerability. 2021
Oral presentation: Investigative interviewing of mentally disordered suspects: Is best practice really best practice? 2021
Invited talk: National Appropriate Adult Network: Professional Development Day 2019
Oral presentation: What they do and what they should do: The Appropriate Adult in mentally disordered suspect interviews in England and Wales. 2019
Oral presentation: Interviewing vulnerable suspects 2019
Invited talk: Mental disorder and investigative interviewing 2018
Oral presentation: Assessing and evaluating quality of interviews: The Forensic Interview Trace (FIT) 2016
Invited talk: Contemporary developments in investigative interviewing: The importance of research in practice 2015
Oral presentation: Analysis of investigative interviews with vulnerable and non-vulnerable suspects 2015

PGR Supervision

Georgia Grady Implicit racial bias within the UK justice system: A jury without conscious knowledge Start Date: 01/03/2023
Lauren Arnison Juror bias, the effect of external bias on trial outcomes and the introduction of new juror selection criteria affecting outcome. Start Date: 01/10/2022