Expert Witness Reports

 

 

Dr Helen Hart is a Chartered and Registered Forensic Psychologist who provides cognitive and psychological assessments for the criminal and family courts and Parole Board Hearings.

For Parole Board Hearings, she brings significant prior experience working for HM Prison Service, mainly in maximum security conditions.  Her specialism is sexual offending and clients with complex personality traits.  In 2016, Helen was nominated and then won an Expert Witness award for her input to these Hearings by Lawyer Monthly.  This involved her report for a very-high risk sex offender with psychopathic tendencies and her creative recommendations to the Parole Board to manage him safely prior to and after release.

For Family Court reports, as she has a forensic specialism, she is often instructed in high profile cases of non-accidental injury, domestic/sexual violence and abuse, child sexual exploitation (including the recent cases in Rochdale), very serious neglect, anger, substance-misuse and complex personality difficulties.  She has experience with “honour based” violence and the complex needs of the Gypsy and Traveller community, for which she received an award from Lawyer Monthly in 2019.  She is regarded as having considerable skill in assessing learning disabled clients, traumatised parents and parents with significant mental health difficulties.  She has been asked to attend court to meet with distressed parents and advise Counsel on the management of their clients during complex hearings.

Helen is a well-regarded Expert Witness who has been praised by lawyers and the Judiciary for her clear, straight-forward approach and has received repeat instructions from many solicitors over the years.  She is interested in Pre-Proceedings assessments and advises Local Authorities how best to work with parents who struggle to engage.  Helen is listed in the British Psychological Society’s Directory of Expert Witnesses.

Helen is also a Senior Practitioner on the British Psychological Society’s Register of Psychologists Specialising in Psychotherapy, so she is often asked to comment on the psychological therapy that clients have already accessed.  She is able to use her therapeutic skills to assess complex, traumatised clients with significant self-management problems.

Helen works within current LAA rates, terms and conditions and she is happy to discuss cases before receiving instructions.  Her CV is available upon request. She has significant experience attending professionals’ meetings and giving evidence in court.  Give Helen a ring to see how she might be able to help with one of your cases.

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Expert Witness award 2019