David Wilson

David Wilson is Emeritus Professor of Criminology and the founding Director of the Centre for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University. Prior to taking up an academic appointment in 1997, David was a Prison Governor and worked at a number of prisons in a variety of roles.

He worked at Grendon, Wormwood Scrubs and at Woodhill in Milton Keynes - where he helped to design and then ran the two units for the 12 most violent prisoners in the country, which brought him into contact with many recent serial killers. David regularly appears in the print and broadcast media as a commentator and presenter. His TV documentaries include the critically acclaimed Interview with a Murderer for Channel 4 in June 2016. In 2017 the documentary won the Broadcast Award and the Royal Television Society Award.

Of David's recent TV documentaries, Dark Son: Hunt for a Serial Killer about a series of murders in London in the 1960s was shown on BBC4 in February 2019 and his BBC1 documentary with Emilia Fox about Jack the Ripper was also broadcast in spring of that year. He filmed his BBC Scotland series David Wilson’s Crime Files in 2020 and the re-commissioned second series was broadcast between August and November 2021. His Channel 4 series with Emilia Fox In the Footsteps of Killers was also shown in 2021. A second series of In the Footsteps of Killers has been commissioned by Channel 4 for 2022.

David's new book - A Plot to Kill (Sphere) was published in July 2021. His professional memoir My Life with Murderers was shortlisted for a Saltire Award.

He co-presents a true crime podcast with Emilia Fox called If it Bleeds, It Leads and he writes a weekly column in the Daily Record.

Professor Wilson regularly gives public, school and university lectures and he is a National Teaching Fellow.