ADHD Alliance and Neurodiversity in Law launch new Custody Guide for ADHDers detained in custody

8th June 2023

The ADHD Alliance and Neurodiversity in Law, which is co-chaired by 3PB’s specialist education, equality, and public law barrister Alice de CoverleyAlice de CoverleyCall: 2014 (pictured here), have launched the new ADHD in Custody: A Guide for ADHDers, or “the Custody Guide”, a booklet giving advice to ADHDers who have been detained in custody. The new guide, endorsed by former Lord Chancellor Sir Robert Buckland KBE KC MP, provides key information about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (“ADHD”), detainee legal rights and Police obligations.

ADHDers account for an estimated 1 in 4 people in the Criminal Justice System, however custody risk assessments and vulnerability screenings tend to be too generic to identify neurodivergence. Even when ADHD is identified, the required support is not always provided. The ADHD in Custody: A Guide for ADHDers, therefore, is designed to be given to all detainees on arrival at the Custody Suite and aims to empower ADHDers (identified or not) to assist in understanding and obtaining support appropriate to their needs. The Custody Guide seeks to improve fairness and effectiveness in the custody process, and consequently in the wider Criminal Justice System.

The Executive Board of Neurodiversity in Law today released this statement: “Identifying and supporting ADHD through the Custody Guide is crucial to achieving fairness, effectiveness, and justice in the Criminal Justice System. The Police must meet its Equality Act 2010 and PACE 1984 Code C obligations; this Custody Guide is intended, therefore, to significantly improve the custody process and environment for all. We look forward to working in partnership with Police Forces across the country in implementing this new Custody Guide.”

To learn more about the risks of unsupported and unidentified ADHD within the Criminal Justice System, read the full press release from the ADHD Alliance and Neurodiversity in Law. Click here to access the downloadable PDF.

All Police Forces are now invited to register their interest in the Guide and its implementation here.

The ADHD Alliance was founded in February 2022 by a group of serving ADHD police officers. Initially a Metropolitan Police focused support group, the Alliance quickly grew, opening its doors to police forces across the UK. The group’s commitment to raising awareness, supporting, and fighting for the welfare of ADHDers beyond Police officers and staff, and into the Criminal Justice System, where ADHDers are disproportionately represented and inadequately supported.

Neurodiversity in Law was founded in May 2020 with the purpose of promoting, supporting, and destigmatizing neurodivergence in the legal professions. Run by a group of aspiring and qualified legal professionals with lived experience, Neurodiversity in Law works with other organisations in the legal sector to raise awareness and visibility of neurodivergence, and to improve access to and retainment within the legal professions. The organisation’s work has naturally progressed to include neurodivergent participants in the Criminal Justice System, having collaborated with specialists in the academic, medical, and legal fields.

If you wish to instruct Alice or see about her availability, please speak to Practice Director Chris Mitchell at [email protected] or telephone 020 7583 8055.