GUEST SPEAKERS

Emma Kenny is a TV presenter, writer, bestselling true crime author and award-winning digital creator. Best known for her work on hundreds of crime documentaries, ITV’s This Morning and her popular True Crime with Emma Kenny, true crime channel, Emma combines psychological insight with compassionate storytelling to examine some of the world’s most disturbing crimes.

Nichole Schmidt is the mother of Gabby Petito and a dedicated advocate for missing persons and survivors of domestic violence. Through the Gabby Petito Foundation, she supports families in crisis, raises awareness of intimate partner violence, and works to strengthen national responses to missing persons. Nichole’s mission is driven by love, purpose, and a commitment to ensuring Gabby’s legacy continues to inspire meaningful change.

im Schmidt, Gabby Petito’s stepfather, has become a powerful voice for families affected by missing persons cases and domestic violence. As part of the Gabby Petito Foundation, he works to improve support systems for those in crisis and elevate national awareness around intimate partner violence. Jim’s advocacy reflects resilience, compassion, and a determination to honour Gabby’s life through impactful action.

Joe Petito, Gabby’s father, is a leading advocate for missing persons and domestic violence awareness. Through the Gabby Petito Foundation, he champions better resources for families in crisis and pushes for stronger national conversations around prevention and response. Joe’s work is rooted in deep love for his daughter and a commitment to ensuring Gabby’s story drives lasting change.

Tara Petito, Gabby’s stepmother, plays a central role in advancing the Gabby Petito Foundation’s mission to support families affected by missing persons cases and domestic violence. She works to raise awareness, strengthen community responses, and guide those facing unimaginable circumstances. Tara’s advocacy is shaped by empathy, purpose, and a dedication to preserving Gabby’s legacy through meaningful, ongoing work.

We are a mother and daughter who have channelled our grief into honouring the life and legacy of Ronan Kanda.

Ronan was a beautiful young man —witty, clever, full of life, happiness and laughter, with a smile that lit up every room. In June 2022, we lost Ronan to a mistaken identity knife attack. He was just 16 years old, and so were the boys who took his life.

Derrick Levasseur is a decorated former police sergeant who served in patrol, detectives, and undercover operations, working with multiple federal agencies. He’s earned major commendations, including the Medal of Valor and the Red Cross Hero Award.He now hosts the podcasts ‘Crime Weekly’ and ‘Detective Perspective.’

Dr. Honor Doro Townshend (BA(Hons), MSc, PGCert, PhD) is a presenter, researcher, writer and lecturer on all things true crime and criminology. Driven by a deep curiosity about human behaviour, she has researched and published on broad topics like substance use, gender ideals, and the dark web, and has a background in the study and teaching of all elements of criminology: from theory, to youth crime, to criminal justice practice. 

Ade George is a Detective Inspector with West Midlands Police, with 28 years’ policing experience, the majority of which has been spent working in specialist detective roles. He is PIP 3 qualified and an experienced Senior Investigating Officer (SIO), with five years’ experience leading homicide investigations, including Operation Hydrak, the investigation into the murder of Ronan Kanda. 

Jo is a Forensic Scientist and has been using science to help solve major crime for over 30 years. She has worked on many high-profile forensic investigations from all over the world. Jo is a renowned specialist in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (BPA) and delivers a range of training courses on the subject to professionals and true crime fans, including online and internationally. 

Claire Throssell MBE is a Women's Aid ambassador. Survivor Claire Throssell’s two sons, Jack, 12, and Paul, 9, were both killed by their father, despite her warnings that he was a danger to them. She has since campaigned tirelessly to stop unsafe child contact with dangerous perpetrators of domestic abuse. 

Professor Anna Williams is a forensic anthropologist, and Professor of Forensic Science at the University of Lancashire. She specialises in decomposition and taphonomy research and is spear-heading the campaign to establish the first Human Taphonomy Facility (or "Body Farm") in the UK. 

Sam Robins is a former Senior Intelligence Manager and Crime Analyst with more than 30 years' experience in policing, specialising in homicide investigations and major crime analysis. Inspired by a lifelong fascination with criminal investigation, she built a pioneering career in analysis, intelligence and serious crime investigations.

Tim Tate is a multi award-winning  ocumentary film-maker, investigative journalist and best-selling author. Over a career spanning almost 50 years, he has written for most national newspapers and made more than 80 documentaries for British and international roadcasters.

Aaron is one of the hosts of the Generation Why Podcast. The Generation Why Podcast released its first episode in 2012 and pioneered the true crime genre in the podcasting world.

Cheryl, the self-proclaimed "Mediocre Queen of Essex," is far from mediocre. Known for her heart, warmth, and humour, she rose to fame as a Top 4 finalist on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019. Since then, Cheryl co-hosts the hit true crime podcast Killers, Cults and Queens alongside Nikki Druce. 

Nikki Druce is the host and creator of Macabre London, a podcast and YouTube channel launched in 2017, with over a million downloads and hundreds of episodes. She is also the co-host of Killers, Cults and Queens with UK Drag Race alum Cheryl the Queen.

Kerry Daynes is a registered Consultant Forensic Psychologist, known and trusted by true crime fans across the globe. With over 25 years spent as one of the most sought-after professionals in the business, her work has taken her from police interview rooms and the witness box to the cells of maximum-security prisons and wards of secure hospitals.

Hayley Rhodes is the host of the True Crime Uncut podcast. An experienced true crime film maker, she has produced and directed series for broadcasters including Sky Crime, Channel 5 and Netflix, including “Britain’s/World’s Most Evil Killers”, “The Killer in My Family”, and RTS Award-winning “The Lady Killers.”

The Captain is one half of the hugely popular US podcast True Crime Garage, known for its distinctive storytelling style and deep‑dive discussions into the world of true crime.

Jack is co-host of The Trial podcast and has spent more than a decade covering some of the country’s biggest cases, including the trial of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, Daniel Khalife and the Suffolk Strangler. He joined the Daily Mail as a reporter in April 2023. 

Nic is one half of the hugely popular US podcast True Crime Garage, known for its distinctive storytelling style and deep‑dive discussions into the world of true crime.

Anton Sullivan is a former Cheshire Police officer with 32 years’ service and crime media consultant. A former detective and senior investigating officer, Anton has been involved in investigations into serious crime and specialised in public order, major incident response and roads policing, leading the county’s roads and crime unit for several years. He was one of the lead officers in the high-profile and long running multinational murder investigation now featured in the Amazon Prime documentary Murder in Concrete.

Anna Sonoda, LCSW, is a grooming prevention expert, author, and speaker who reveals the behavioral patterns that precede exploitation and abuse.

With over two decades of clinical experience, Anna has worked across the mental health field, counseling convicted sexual offenders and supporting those impacted by trauma, violence, and complex behavioral challenges. Her work provides a rare perspective on both sides of harm: how offenders operate and how communities can recognize risk.

Samantha Renke is a broadcaster, speaker, actor, writer and highly acclaimed disability advocate. Samantha played the lead role in the award-winning feature film, Little Devil. She also featured in Channel 4’s successful series of Disabled-led adverts for Maltesers. 

Samantha was nominated as Campaigner of the Year at the 2019 European Diversity Awards and Celebrity of the Year at the 2020 National Diversity Awards. 

Dr Hannah Mason-Bish is an Associate Professor in Criminology at the University of Sussex, UK, where she has worked since 2013. She specialises in violence, victimisation and hate crime, with a particular focus on the intersections of gender and disability.

Hannah has given expert evidence and delivered talks to the UN, OSCE, Law Commission and police, and has appeared across TV and radio, including BBC Woman’s Hour, as well as in the Huffington Post.

Dr Richard Butchins is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, journalist, writer and photographer who has spent more than twenty years making work about disability, power and the stories institutions prefer to tell about other people.

His forthcoming book, Misfits: Reframing Disability, published by Pluto Press, brings together memoir, cultural criticism and decades of documentary practice to examine who gets believed, who gets spoken for, and why disabled people are so often treated as subjects rather than authors of their own lives.

fter a successful career in the music and media industries, winning an Emmy for the kids TV show Beat That in 1992, Mik moved into the EDI arena working as an access consultant and equity trainer. He is currently the CoCEO of the national charity Phab and leads their Access Consulting and Training Services project, giving opportunities to younger disabled people to break into EDI.

Clare Laxton has spent nearly two decades working to create change in society through campaigning, communications and content. She is the creator and host of Killer in the Family podcast which explores cases of men who have killed their whole families and takes a victim-centred approach to storytelling, which often includes discussions of domestic abuse and coercive control. 

N Leigh Hunt is a South African born author, crime historian and broadcaster. He is a member of the American Society of Criminology and considered an expert on school shooters.

Lisa Ribacoff is an internationally recognized polygraph examiner, investigative consultant, and expert in credibility assessment with more than a decade of experience conducting high-profile examinations and investigations. She consults on complex matters for corporate, legal, government, and private-sector clients.

Paul Maillardet is a leading practitioner of statement analysis, the forensic discipline of detecting deception through language. Paul teaches a method rooted in decades of linguistic research, based on the principle that people cannot lie as easily as they think — because their own words betray them without their realising it.

Caroline Cheetham is a broadcast journalist and the Creative Director and host of The Trial, the Daily Mail's chart-topping true crime podcast that brings criminal cases from the courtroom to life through a blend of court reporting and storytelling. She also lectures in journalism at the University of Salford, where she has brought students into the podcast as producers, editors and voice actors.

Jamie East is Head of Podcasts at the Daily Mail, where he oversees one of the biggest podcast slates in the UK. Since he took charge of the audio operation in 2023, Daily Mail shows have grown to pass well over 30 million downloads across true crime, news, history, royals and more.

Clair Buckley is a podcaster and online personality best known for her Vlog “At Home with The Buckleys’ and no.1 podcast “The Buckleys” with her husband James Buckley. A familiar face across entertainment, Clair has appeared on Channel 4’s Celebrity Gogglebox and featured in films including Vendetta and Monster. 

Broadcaster and journalist Luke Jones is the creator and host of the global hit podcast The Pitcairn Trials and follow up series, The Surgeon Of St Helena. He was nominated for Best Host at the 2025 British Podcast Awards. 

Michaela is a criminologist with a strong academic and frontline background in exploitation, missing children, youth offending, and custodial environments. She holds a master’s degree in criminology and a BSc in Psychology Criminal Behaviour, giving her a broad understanding of crime, vulnerability, risk, behaviour, and safeguarding.

Formerly Head of Security and Operations at HMP Wormwood Scrubs .Vanessa started her career at HMP Holloway as an Officer in 1986. She transferred to HMP Wormwood Scrubs in 2002, Vanessa was awarded an MBE for her work for the prison service in 2012 and retired in 2013 from the prison service after 27 years.

Lisa Squire is a national campaigner, police trainer and advocate for ending violence against women and girls. Following the murder of her daughter, Libby Squire, in 2019, Lisa has dedicated her life to driving systemic change through education, prevention and professional training.

Jodie Edith is a trauma-informed counsellor, hypnotherapist, speaker, and Clinical Lead for a specialist domestic abuse counselling service. With extensive experience supporting survivors of domestic abuse, sexual violence, trauma, and coercive control, she combines clinical expertise with lived experience to advocate for meaningful, preventative change.

Following the murder of her step-sister, Laura Mortimer, and 11-year-old niece, Ella Dalby, in 2018, Jodie dedicated her work to helping prevent violence against women and girls before lives are lost. 

Caroline is a forensic osteoarchaeological consultant with Earth2Earth, specialising in the search and recovery of human remains and the interpretation of burials and skeletal evidence. She works alongside police forces when called upon, providing specialist expertise in forensic recovery and archaeological investigation. 

Dr Emma French writes about how particular people, places and stories hit the headlines and capture the public imagination. Emma is co-author of the Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller - Inside Broadmoor as well as Inside Wakefield Prison which was the best selling true crime non-fiction book across all categories in 2024.

onathan Levi is a successful television executive and BAFTA-nominated documentary film maker. Attracted to the extremes in society, he was the first person to ever gain full access to the patients and staff at Broadmoor for a highly-acclaimed primetime ITV series offering startling insights into the minds of some of Britain's most notorious psychiatric patients.

Donal MacIntyre is a renowned documentary maker, investigative journalist and criminologist. He made his reputation as an undercover reporter before working with ITV, BBC, Five, and an array of international broadcasters including Discovery and National Geographic both as a reporter, presenter and producer. 

Professor Jason Payne-James is one of the UK’s leading forensic physicians and an internationally recognised expert in forensic and legal medicine. A former President of the Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians, he has spent decades examining the evidence behind some of the most complex and challenging cases.

Kacey is the host of the hit podcast, The Cult Vault. The Cult Vault offers interviews with survivors and victims of cults, new religious movements, high demand control groups and high demand religious groups.

Andy Clark is a Netherlands-based  podcast maker and co-producer of  Codename Badger - the gripping True Crime show which unmasked one of the UK’s longest running scams. 

Eugene Henderson has spent almost the last four decades in journalism, covering all aspects of news, both in his native UK, Europe and further afield. After learning his trade on local newspapers, and a brief stint working in London he moved to Hong Kong where he wrote for an English-language title and was sent undercover to China as part of an investigation in sex trafficking of young women and girls.

Elizabeth McCafferty is known for her hit investigative series Inside McKamey Manor, which explored the world’s most controversial “extreme haunt”. She is also the host of the weekly podcast Paranormia, where true crime collides with the supernatural, psychology, and the macabre. 

Anna has more than 25 years’ experience in unscripted television and heads Yeti Television’s US and Streamer Development team, building a slate of history, true crime and premium factual programming for global audiences.

Andrew is a television and documentary film director, producer and executive with extensive experience creating programmes for British and international broadcasters and global streaming platforms.

As Managing Director of Brighton-based Middlechild Productions and Newcastle-based Northern Child, Andrew oversees a broad slate of observational documentaries, factual formats and current-affairs films. 

Dr Brin Hodgskiss is a narrative psychologist whose career includes senior intelligence roles in UK policing. He worked as a Crime Analyst with Hertfordshire Police before progressing from Senior Intelligence Analyst to Strategic Intelligence Manager at Cambridgeshire Police. Across 15 years in policing in the UK and South Africa, he supported a vast range of investigations, combining the analysis of criminal behaviour with operational leadership.

Lee is an English veteran who served two tours of duty in Northern Ireland. During his second tour, he began to question his role and the conflict as a whole. 

Oisin Feeney is the creator of The Troubles Podcast, an award-winning historical documentary series exploring the Troubles in Northern Ireland. 

David Howard is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and Creative Director of Monster Films. He began his career at BBC Wales, directing acclaimed documentaries on singer Dorothy Squires, actress Rachel Roberts and writer Jean Rhys. A two-time BAFTA Cymru nominee for Best Director, David won both the Royal Television Society Award for Journalism and the Broadcast Award for Best Documentary for the groundbreaking ‘Interview With A Murderer’.

Alex Matthews is the editor of The Crime Desk, the Daily Mail's true crime brand spanning podcasts, video and written journalism Alex leads a team delivering gripping exclusives across print, podcast and video. His stories have exposed the secret horrors of the Catholic 'cult' Opus Dei and revealed Jeffrey Epstein's role in the murder of a Norwegian student in London's Regent's Park.

Dan Ashby is an award-winning investigative journalist, specialising in thrilling environment stories. His investigations have been broadcast by news networks across the world, shown at the UN and reached millions of people. 

Miles is a multi-award-winning TV Executive. Over the last 20 years, he’s created and executive produced more than 200 hours of crime programmes for a range of UK and US broadcasters and streamers.  His work includes feature documentaries, returning series and live daily programmes.   

Nancy is the Co-Founder of The Assembly, proud co-owners and organisers of CrimeCon UK. 

As Event Director for CrimeCon UK, she works hard to curate a wide-ranging program that has something for everyone and that combines hands-on learning with plenty of chances to have fun meeting speakers, podcasters, and other fans.