David Wilson (criminologist)

Scottish criminologist (born 1957)

David Wilson (born 23 April 1957) is a Scottish emeritus professor of criminology at Birmingham City University. While at HMP Woodhill, Wilson helped design and managed the two units for the 12 most disruptive prisoners in the country. This experience brought him into contact with some of the most notorious offenders of the last 30 years, including Charles Bronson and Dennis Nilsen. Wilson has written about these experiences in his memoir, My Life with Murderers.

After a short time with the Prison Reform Trust, Wilson joined University of Central England in Birmingham (now Birmingham City University), was given a professorship in 2000 and made Emeritus Professor in 2017. A member of the British Society of Criminology, his research covers aspects of prisons and imprisonment, murder and serial murder. Wilson has advised various police forces as a criminologist, and in 2006 was also involved in the Ipswich serial murder case, as an advisor to Sky News. Subsequently, Steve Wright was arrested and prosecuted for this series of murders. Wilson acted as: Vice Chair of the Howard League for Penal Reform (1998–2014); Vice President of New Bridge; and Chair of the Forum on Prisoner Education (2000–2006). He is a former Chair of the Commission on English Prisons Today, whose president was Cherie Blair, and of the Friends of Grendon Prison. In 2012, he was made a National Teaching Fellow of England and Wales. He is a regular contributor to the press and writes mostly for The Guardian and the Daily Mail. On television 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. On Channel 5 he co presented Banged Up, which was nominated for a Royal Television Society award. Wilson developed and presented two series of Killers Behind Bars: The Untold Story, which was developed initially from the stand point of an academic look at criminal profiling to counter that shown in fictional series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Wilson appeared on BBC Radio 4's Ramblings series on 1 October 2020, walking with Clare Balding from Wicken, Northamptonshire to Leckhampstead, Buckinghamshire whilst discussing his life. Wilson gives public lectures and delivers lectures for schools through the company CrimiKnowledge. In 2016 the TV drama Dark Angel attributed his book Mary Ann Cotton: Britain's First Female Serial Killer as its inspiration.

Wilson is married to Anne, a practising lawyer. The couple live in Buckinghamshire and have two children.

– This co author is the Sky broadcast journalist and not the former Police Officer of the same name. – This co author is the Sky broadcast journalist and not the former Police Officer of the same name. David, Wilson (2023). Murder At Home: How our safest space is where we’re most in danger. Hachette UK. ISBN 978 0 7515 8495 0 Hardback Published 23rd March 2023