Crime Science Institute names first director

Dr Gloria Laycock, currently completing a fellowship at the Australian Institute of Criminology, will take up the post in April – on the second anniversary of the murdered TV presenter's untimely death.

Dr Laycock graduated in psychology from UCL, and has since worked for the Home Office (spending ten years in the Prison Service), followed by five years in the Criminal Department and ten years in the Police Department.

Crime Science builds on evidence-based criminology, and will embrace other disciplines including psychology, economics, architecture and product design.

Nick Ross, Jill's former co-presenter on Crimewatch UK, said the Institute will ultimately become "the place businesses will look to for help in designing crime-free products, and the natural home for local authority leaders looking to tackle crime."