Forensic Psychology Assessments and Expert Witness
Dr. Keogh offers forensic psychology services of assessment and therapeutic services to perpetrators and victims of crime and with those who allege they have been wrongly accused. She and her associates also offers personal injury assessments ranging from psychological trauma to neuropsychological evaluation. She also works in the family court.
Instruction Procedure
Dr. Keogh can be contacted either directly by telephone or by sending an email in order to arrange forensic psychology services. Once work has been requested, and case details provided, financial issues and time scales can be discussed and a contract is entered into.
A formal letter of instruction is then completed by the instruction party outlining specific reasons for referral, financial status, roles and obligations, contact details and time constraints.
At all times NFPC will respond to any requests from the instructing party within two working days by telephone or email.
The finished report will be provided both by email initially and by hard copy accompanied by invoice, by post, within 24 hours.
Attendance in court if necessary, will be agreed in advance with two weeks notice.
Psychological and Risk Assessments related to an Offence
Dr. Keogh has experience in the area of psychological assessment and has undergone training in the various areas of sexual, violent, neuro-psychological, cognitive and functional risk assessment. She can be found on the British Psychological List of Expert Witnesses and www.yourexpertwitness.co.uk.
Assessments are carried out with the view to gaining a detailed understanding of an individual’s cognitive, behavioural, emotional, and situational factors involved in the perpetration of the offence in question. A forensic psychology assessment is usually conducted in our practice or at a convenient location.
We provide reports for the following:
- Sexual Offences (Including Contact, Non Contact and Internet Abuse)
- Violent Offences
- Criminal Proceedings
- Domestic Violence
- Parenting Capacity Assessments
- Child custody evaluations
- Probation Hearings
- Political Asylum and resulting trauma to the individual and family
- Substance Abuse
- Trauma
- Cognitive and Associated Assessment
- Issues of extradition
- Adolescents
- Substance abuse assessments
- Pre- sentencing evaluations
- Neuropsychological evaluation
Capacity to Stand Trial Assessments and Executive functioning Assessments
Legal practice requires that defendants in criminal proceedings are competent to stand trial. The question of competency most often arises for defendants with schizophrenic- spectrum disorders, severe mood disorders or learning disability.
Various situations therefore arise where specific referrals for severe psychological and cognitive and allied assessments (i.e. memory, pre-morbid functioning, suggestibility and compliance, neuro-psychological). Such situations include issues of capacity to understand and engage in court proceedings, issues of false confession and suggestibility, older adolescents with a learning disorder being tried in an adult court. A forensic psychology assessment can determine capacity to stand trial.
False Confessions
Where a person alleges to have falsely confessed to a crime, we conduct a thorough assessment of the individual. This comprises an evaluation of personality factors, cognitive ability, mental state, personal history and circumstances relating to the crime. The aim of the assessment is to examine the veracity of the confession. Possible contributors to false confessions include suggestibility, compliance or malingering.
Extradition Orders
To be extradited means to be transferred from one country to another for the purpose of prosecution or punishment for an offence of which they may have been convicted. In general, this is only possible if there is an extradition agreement between the two countries in question. Individual countries also have extradition rules, for example, Ireland does not allow extradition for the purposes of investigation of a criminal offence only, the person must be charged with the offence. Extradition can pose other problems, for example when a parent is being extradited this may pose unnecessary trauma to a family.
Dr. Keogh seeks to establish the possible trauma to a person or family as a result of possible extradition. Any forensic psychology assessment is sensitive to these issues.
Dr. Keogh offers assessment and therapeutic services to perpetrators and victims of crime and with those who allege they have been wrongly accused. She also works in the family court. 
