University News Last updated 11 February 2021
Criminologist Professor David Wilson will today (11 February) warn hundreds of police officers of rising concerns over homeless people being victims of murder.
Speaking at Thames Valley Police’s annual research conference, the Birmingham City University academic will also highlight how deaths of the homeless can be too quickly assumed the result of underlying mental or physical health issues, rather than a serious crime.
“A serial killer needs to be able to gain access to people that they can kill - people who are vulnerable in some way and, crucially, won’t be missed if they disappear, or won’t have questions asked about if they die,” said Professor Wilson.
In a keynote presentation, Professor Wilson will discuss how the profiling of serial killers has caught the imagination of the public, the importance of exploring the cultures that produce more or less serial killers and the power of the serial killer label in defining such offenders.
During his speech, Professor Wilson will reflect upon his research into the groups of people targeted by serial killers – the most common being women over 60 and sex workers. He found that the only group of males regularly targeted are gay men.
“We can all do something to reduce the incidence of serial murder in our communities by not ‘going into their minds’ to work out why they do it, but by challenging homophobia, having a grown up debate about the numbers of young women - and some young men - who sell sexual services, and by re-considering the place of the elderly in our culture - an issue highlighted by COVID-19.”
Professor Wilson will also delve into the potential serial killing case of Ben Field, a PhD student who worked in an old people’s home in Buckingham - the focus of Wilson’s new book, ‘A Plot to Kill’.
“Field murdered his tutor and lover at Buckingham University called Peter Farquhar, and it was later discovered that he had a list of 100 other - mostly elderly people - that he may have been about to target,” said Wilson. “The echoes with Harold Shipman are chilling.”