Our Experts

Mr Eric Baskind

Principal Associate

Eric Baskind is a consultant in violence reduction and the safer use of force. He is senior lecturer in law at Liverpool John Moores University and a Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University. He is also Chair of the Centre for Physical Interventions, British Self Defence Governing Body.

Eric’s particular research focus is concerned with the evaluation of the many different systems of managing disruptive, aggressive and violent behaviour which include de-escalation, communication, behavioural management, disengagement and restraint.

Eric is experienced across a broad range of systems used by the Prison and Police services, healthcare including secure hospital establishments, and other institutional settings providing secure accommodation, schools and other kinds of educational establishments including the juvenile secure estate, as well as those methods used by security personnel within the fields of personal safety and public order.

Much of Eric’s work is involved in devising and advising on effective and safer methods of dealing with disruptive, aggressive and violent behaviour and the related question of assessing risk to identify and inform subsequent strategies for the reduction of and coping with such behaviours and in the reduction in the use of physical interventions and restraints generally.

Eric has published articles in peer-reviewed professional journals and chapters in professional textbooks. He also speaks several times a year at conferences, many of which he chairs. His papers focus on a range of related topics including violence-reduction strategies, the use and misuse of physical restraint and the current thinking on the use of non-pain inducing techniques, prone-restraint positions and mechanical restraint devices.

Eric serves on a number of steering and expert groups including the Security Industry Authority, College of Policing, the four UK High Secure Hospitals and ProtectED.

Eric has advised numerous other bodies including the BBC, the Howard League for Penal Reform, various Inquiries and the Parliamentary Resources Unit. He has appeared in a number of high-profile Inquires including the Lord Carlile Independent Inquiry into the Use of Physical Restraint in Prisons, Secure Training Centres, and Local Authority Secure Children’s Homes and served as a Commissioner to the National Independent Commission on Enforced Removals with specific responsibility for the management of violence and aggression and the use of restraint. The Commission was chaired by The Lord Ramsbotham, GCB, CBE, formerly Chief Inspector of Her Majesty’s Prisons, and was established in March 2012 following the death under restraint of Mr Jimmy Mubenga during his deportation from the UK in 2010.

Eric has been instructed as an expert witness both in the UK and in other countries in more than 3,000 cases including by the Ministry of Justice/Home Office, Prison Officers’ Association, Police Federation and Scottish Prison Service in a range of cases where issues of physical intervention/restraint have arisen both in training and operationally. He has considerable experience of dealing with cases involving deaths in custody and giving evidence at Inquests and Fatal Accident Inquiries.

Mr Peter Turner

Principal Associate

Peter Turner is an experienced specialist with a demonstrated history spanning over 30 years of working within high secure and forensic mental health settings. He is skilled in the design and delivery of violence-reduction and least-restrictive clinical and operational strategies to predict, prevent and manage acute behavioural disturbances.

Pete has extensive experience of working with some of the most vulnerable and violent groups who required enhanced trauma informed support to proactively deliver safe recovery-focused care within very challenging settings and unique set of circumstances. He provided direct oversight, support and supervision to multi-disciplinary teams to develop proactive cultures and whole system approaches to provide safe, responsive and consistent levels of care.

Pete has developed a sound knowledge base and understanding of best practice guidance, relevant laws and legislation, biological and social influences and associated risks pertaining to this complex subject matter. He has gained vast experience of designing theoretical and physical PMVA training programmes for hospital, care and public authority environments. He chaired the high secure service PMVA manual steering group (2014 – 2021) with the responsibility of developing a training manual, overseeing and maintaining a safe and consistent approach across all the UK high secure estates, including numerous NHS services and private care environments that worked under the auspices of this developed model. Part of this essential work was designing and testing of all physical restraint procedures to ensure the selected skills were legally and ethically safe for inclusion into the hierarchy of response options specific for the chosen service line population.

Pete has developed effective leadership skills to lead and manage large service improvement projects to reduce violence, Long- Term Segregation (LTS) and the unnecessary use of restrictive interventions. During this time, Pete’s high clinical and operational responsibilities extended to developing individualised and group care pathways that significantly improved the quality of life and recovery for some of the most restricted and vulnerable service users. In addition, Pete was also available 24/7 to provide expert advice to service leads, clinical teams and other stakeholders.

Pete has led in the design, innovation and testing of high secure escort vehicles, emergency response equipment, mechanical restraints, de-escalation furniture and environments, redevelopment programmes to improve environmental safety, personal safety and therapeutic alliance, large scale hospital rebuild projects and purpose-built training centres.

Pete has extensive experience of the operational responsibility of leading teams and the decision-making process to advise the operational command structure in the management and resolution of high-risk incidents involving individuals and large-scale disturbances with serious and sustained intent of harming themselves and/or others.

Pete has extensive teaching and operational experience of the use of specialised equipment i.e., de-escalation safety PODs, handcuffs, mechanical restraint devices, public order equipment, method of entry and crime-scene preservation.

Pete’s efficiency in the analysis of incident data and reviewing of CCTV and body-worn camera footage was essential to the continuous cycle of learning and improvement of practice. His combined expertise was regularly called upon to lead/support localised serious incident reviews and to provide evidence during legal proceedings.

Pete’s rounded expertise was a constant source of support to other UK and International public authorities (HMP, Police, Governments and regulatory bodies, etc.).  More recently, and through such collaborative work, Pete made significant contributions to the reduction of violence and the use of physical restraints (including prone restraint) within custody settings. Furthermore, Pete was a contributing author of the ‘Report on the efficacy and safety of the Bolawrap (2020)’ instructed by Emergency Protection Ltd.

During his career, Pete sat on many national groups including the NHS England expert reference group to reduce the use of restrictive practice within commissioned mental health services and the College of Policing mental health and restraint expert reference group. He was until recently an external examiner at the University of South Wales for their BSc (Hons) in Professional Practice (Violence Reduction).

Pete has provided advice to many leading experts and public authorities during national policy writing, best practice guidance reviews, individual clinical care pathway reviews, procedural and operational consultations, training programme reviews, general advice/support to multi-disciplinary teams, organisations and trainers etc. Pete’s greatest success was his continuous grass roots approach of remaining clinically and operationally credible throughout his entire career.

Other experts are available to support Eric and Pete as and when required