Richard
Taylor
Literary Agent: Eugenie Furniss
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Richard Taylor is a forensic psychiatrist and the National Clinical Lead for the Counter Terrorism Clinical Consultancy Service.
In his 36-year medical career he worked in accident and emergency medicine and humanitarian relief operations in Sudan and Somalia before specialising in forensic psychiatry in 1997. For thirty years he has worked in prisons, secure hospitals, and with Metropolitan police Special Operations.
He has extensive experience of medicolegal work and he continues to take instructions as an expert witness in the criminal and civil courts.
He is the UK’s leading expert on information sharing between mental health professionals and law enforcement. He co-authored the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ guidelines on information sharing with MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) and the national guidance on data sharing between mental health professionals and counter-terrorism policing.
For five years, Dr Taylor worked at the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC), the specialist mental health team attached to Royalty and Specialist Protection police. In this role he conducted threat assessments on individuals who sent fixated or threatening communications to members of the Royal Family, the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street, and government ministers. He was involved in threat management during the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and the Coronation of King Charles III. He has worked in Counter Terrorism since 2017.
He holds two police commendations for his counter-terrorism work and is an associate member of the Leadership in Counter Terrorism Alumni Association (LinCT). He regularly lectures on counter-terrorism and mental health. He is currently involved in a research project with the UCL Department of Security and Crime Science analysing over 4,000 counter terrorism cases referred for mental health advice and consultancy which is the largest dataset of its kind, internationally.
Dr Taylor’s non-fiction book The Mind of a Murderer has sold over 150,000 copies worldwide. Language editions include English, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese. The book received a four-star review from Jake Kerridge in The Telegraph and a highly positive review from Alisdair Williamson MP in the Times Literary Supplement. It was serialised in The Sunday Times in 2021. Dr Taylor is working on his next book.
(Photo credit - Juan Trujillo Andrades)