Event Details

We are delighted to present to you a brand new theme for the 2020/2021 Public Lectures Series: ‘Talking about…’, and warmly invite you to join our researchers as they explore some of the most pressing issues facing the country.

About the Lecture

During early 2020 all our lives were drastically altered as England and Wales followed many other countries around the world and embarked on a national lockdown in order to slow the Covid-19 infection rate. As most of the society struggled to adjust to lockdown life, others found it easier to adapt and respond to the new challenges faced within Criminal Justice and the Security sector. In this lecture, Dr Nicola Harding, lecturer in Criminology - Lancaster University; Tony Sales, Head of Strategic Development - We Fight Fraud; Adam Boome, Communications Director - We Fight Fraud, and Jodie Beck, Co-founder - Our Empty Chair will present two case studies that demonstrate quick, innovative action to two very different issues posed by the covid-19 pandemic.

We Fight Fraud produced a pivotal online webinar just three weeks into lockdown with key warnings and preventative measures about the ‘criminal opportunity’ for fraud & financial crime offered by the pandemic. Acting so quickly, they helped key financial institutions prevent financial crime and the significant harm faced by its victims.

Our Empty Chair is a campaign group formed to draw attention to the risks faced by prisoners during the Covid-19 pandemic from the perspective of the family members left behind at home. As the government failed to honour their pledge to release a significant number of prisoners who did not need to be in prison, Our Empty Chair gave prisoner families a campaigning voice to show that their family member would be safer at home during this pandemic.

The lecture will be followed by a Q&A session during which you will have the opportunity to ask questions of the speakers via the Microsoft Teams chat function.

To register for your free tickets, please go to Eventbrite

About the speakers

Dr Nicola Harding is a lecturer in Criminology at Lancaster University, she researches women and social control, critical approaches to community punishment, understanding lived experiences of the criminal justice system, alongside creative forms of qualitative research.

Tony Sales is the Head of Strategic Development and Co-founder of We Fight Fraud (www.wefightfraud.org), he is one of very few people to have ever worked at the summits of both organised crime and fraud and loss prevention. He provides advice to some of the world’s leading brands on their fraud and loss prevention strategies.

Adam Boome is the Communications Director of We Fight Fraud, he has produced, directed and edited or developed primetime factual programmes for BBC1, 2 and 3, ITV, Channel 4 and 5, Discovery, National Geographic, TF1 amongst others. He spent 5 years at BBC in-house productions, producing, directing and series producing often legally complex, controversial programmes in the specialist and current affairs departments.

Jodie Beck is the co-founder of Our Empty Chair (@OurEmptyChair), a grassroots collective dedicated to sharing stories about families being kept apart by prisons during the pandemic.

© Photo by Linhao Qu