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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. 

Laura Farrugia

  • 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

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • 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

  • 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

  • Psychology PhD December 01 2018
  • Member British Psychological Society (BPS) 2022
  • Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy 2019


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