Suspects can be held in police custody for up to 24 hours – and sometimes longer. During this time, they may be questioned by police. But what happens when someone in custody has a mental health condition or is neurodivergent? Is police custody capable of recognising potential vulnerabilities and responding appropriately?

Penelope and Rob are joined by Dr Roxanna Dehaghani of Cardiff University and Rhona Friedman of Commons Legal to explore the experience of police custody, how it can cause or exacerbate harm, and what needs to change to make the process fairer and safer for vulnerable people.

Dr Roxanna Dehaghani

Find out more about Roxanna’s research here: ⁠https://profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/fatemi-dehaghanir⁠

Rhona Friedman

Learn more about Rhona’s practice here: ⁠https://www.commons.legal/⁠

Further resources

All-Party Parliamentary Group report on police custody: ⁠https://futurejustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/APPGMiscarriagesofJustice_RecalimingCustodyastheFirstLineofDefence.pdf⁠

Panorama investigation into police custody: ⁠https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002k7k6⁠ 

More information on the Baird inquiry into overuse of police custody: ⁠https://www.transformjustice.org.uk/news-insight/the-baird-inquiry-into-overuse-of-police-custody/⁠

Transform Justice

Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TransformJust1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@transformjustice.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The Transform Justice podcast is hosted by Penelope Gibbs and Rob Allen and produced and edited by Alexandra Kimmons.