Staff

Vicki provides strategic leadership across the Centre’s work to promote a fairer and more effective justice system. She oversees programmes on out-of-court resolutions and diversion, family justice and FDAC, women in justice, and community advice services, as well as the Centre’s core functions. Vicki has extensive experience in the criminal justice sector, having worked as a senior education leader in a young offender institution. Her academic background in Youth Justice underpins her work in driving evidence-based innovation for better outcomes for individuals and communities.  

vmulligan@justiceinnovation.org  |   07415371262

Ellie Butson is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day financial administration, human resources policies and general operation of the Centre including managing and developing relationships. Prior to working at the Centre, Ellie has acted as the office manager for a number of charities as well as a referral administrator in oncology clinical trials.

Sophie Carter is in charge of our family justice practice work, and FDAC area of focus, here at the Centre. Sophie has extensive frontline and operational experience within family justice having previously managed an FDAC team. Sophie also brings a wide range of experience and knowledge from her previous roles working within criminal justice and community support services, particularly in relation to substance misuse, offender management and working with victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse.

scarter@justiceinnovation.org

Lydia sits within the research team, predominantly focusing on the Centre’s women in justice work and exploring ways in which women’s experiences of the justice system can be improved. She is an intersectional feminist and has previously studied feminist research methods and violence against women and girls. Before her role at the Centre, Lydia worked in policy research at the British Red Cross and in the Social Research Institute at Ipsos.  

Rachel Cross is a Practice Officer at the Centre, working to improve justice system outcomes for women through the development and implementation of trauma-informed and gender-responsive practice. Rachel brings over two decades of experience from Birmingham Magistrates’ Court, where she played a key role in supporting HMCTS’s delivery of a women’s problem-solving court as part of the Intensive Supervision Court (ISC) initiative. Her background in frontline court operations gives her a deep understanding of the challenges faced by women in contact with the justice system and the practical approaches needed to create lasting change.  

Jenny works at Community Advice, a service based within Highbury Corner Magistrates Court. She provides a range of advice, information and support to court users. Jenny has a MSc in Psychology and as a qualified teacher, has considerable experience in the education sector. 

Claire Ely is in charge of our criminal justice practice work. This currently involves areas of focus such as: youth diversion, criminal problem solving courts, adult diversion, out of court disposals and community advice services. Claire has extensive frontline experience of the criminal justice system from her time as a probation officer. 

cely@justiceinnovation.org 

Jamie Hobday works in our youth justice team. Jamie supports the Whole Area Model (WAM) project, where, working closely with the Youth Endowment Fund, he is supporting four police force areas and their aligned Youth Justice Services to develop youth diversion initiatives. Jamie’s background is in policing, with 31 years’ service in a large, urban force in England. His varied career involved uniformed, investigative and intelligence roles in many different boroughs. Jamie also has experience in developing youth and prosecution policy and has undertaken academic study on policing approaches to harm reduction and multi-agency working.

As Innovative Practice Officer, Bami works collaboratively with practitioners to support and enhance innovations currently taking place within the Criminal Justice System, particularly in youth and adult diversion and out of court disposals. Bami has frontline experience working as a police officer for the Metropolitan Police and as a caseworker for a gangs and violence prevention charity

bjolaoso@justiceinnovation.org 

Clare is the Family Justice Coordinator and supports the family justice practice team to deliver the Centre's Family Justice programme of work, including coordinating training and events. Clare also provides support to Family Drug and Alcohol Courts by responding to practice queries. 

She has previous experience working for various organisations, mainly in the healthcare field. 

ckavanagh@justiceinnovation.org 

Jason strengthens partnerships across the criminal justice system, bringing together key stakeholders, including people with lived experience to develop quality diversionary practice. Using his knowledge and experience from a former career in Policing, Jason brings a unique blend of practical and evidence based experience gained from innovating policy design and its implementation throughout the UK.  

jkew@justiceinnovation.org

Miranda is the Centre's communications officer. She is responsible for the Centre's website, social media and newsletter output and supports the team with publications and events. She initially joined the team as an innovative practice intern, working within the criminal justice practice team. Prior to this, Miranda worked as a frontline practitioner in a both a Women's Centre and a temporary accommodation site for people experiencing homelessness. 

Carmen Robin-D’Cruz works to research, develop and test new approaches to justice system practice, particularly in the youth justice system. She is responsible for identifying evidence of effective practice and producing practical evidence-led recommendations for service delivery that can be implemented and evaluated. Carmen graduated with a degree in Law, and went on to work as a Research Advisor at the University of Edinburgh and Research Assistant at Reading University’s School of Law. 

cdcruz@justiceinnovation.org 

Lucy supports the Centre’s policy and influencing work, and helps to develop the thinking on how to make a fairer and more effective justice system. She has previous experience working in third sector communications, including time spent in Brussels where she combined her passion for cycling and policy at a European cycling network.

lslade@justiceinnovation.org 

Suzanne leads the Centre's work on women in justice, which includes supporting the implementation of effective, evidence-led gender-responsive approaches to women and girls in contact with the justice system. Previously, Suzanne worked as a frontline practitioner having worked in both the male and female prison estates and in youth justice, working with young people involved in or at risk of involvement in the criminal justice system.  

ssmith@justiceinnovation.org 

As head of Evidence and Data, Stephen leads our research team, ensuring that our work is rigorous and provides insights that can have a real impact on the criminal justice system. He is particularly interested in the use of non custodial sentences and has worked on the role of the probation service and problem-solving courts. He is currently leading a project on the use of court fines as well as co-ordinating our use of research evidence around Family Drug and Alcohol Courts.

swhitehead@justiceinnovation.org