Helen Howard

Helen studied law at Durham University before completing the necessary year of vocational training at the College of Law in York, and subsequently qualifying as a solicitor.  She joined Teesside University in 1995 where she teaches criminal law and medical law. In 2002 she completed a Master of Jurisprudence at Durham University on the mental condition defences. Since then, Helen has continued to focus her research on the mental condition defences, providing feedback to the Law Commission as part of its consultation processes. In 2014, Helen participated in a working party at the Ministry of Justice, and her research has been cited in several Law Commission papers, including: Unfitness to Plead, Volume 1: Final Report (2016); and Criminal Liability: Insanity and Automatism: A Discussion Paper (2013).  In 2018, Helen published ‘The offence/defence of infanticide: a view from two perspectives', and in 2023, she contributed a book chapter to 100 Years of the Infanticide Act: Legacy, Impact and Future Directions, (Hart Publishing, eds. Brennan and Milne). She has undertaken empirical research in relation to mentally vulnerable defendants in the North East of England, which has generated interest from the legal profession, magistrates, the police, appropriate adults, charities and NHS Liaison and Diversion teams. Her doctorate The Mentally Vulnerable Defendant in the Criminal Justice System of England and Wales: a Critical Investigation into Issues of Moral Agency, Criminal Responsibility and Effective Participation was awarded in 2022. She is currently collaborating on research commissioned by Cleveland Police and Teesside University Policing Clinic, as well as co-authoring a book chapter on the effective participation of children in the youth courts and the role of neuroscience.

Helen’s research interests include the criminal defences of insanity and diminished responsibility, unfitness to plead, and aspects of criminal law theory.

Recent developments in the law relating to the mental condition defences have resulted in Helen providing feedback to the Law Commission as part of its consultation processes. This has tended to focus on the need for a theoretical underpinning of the defences, and consideration of the criteria for holding an individual criminally responsible.

In 2014, Helen was part of a working group for the Law Commission advising on proposed changes to the law on unfitness to plead.