Hayley Atkins

Lecturer in the School of Justice Studies.

Academic Tutor for the PQiP programme.

Hayley has always had a strong interest in criminal behaviour and a keenness to work with people who have been convicted of serious offences.

She studied here at LJMU at undergraduate level. She studied Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice where she particularly enjoyed modules of Criminal Law, Forensic Psychology, Attachment Theories and considering both Sexual and Violent offending. Her dissertation focused on some of these areas when she researched why people commit crime and enter the Criminal Justice System. During this time she volunteered as a Special Constable with Cheshire Police and was able to use serving Cheshire Police Officers as candidates for her dissertation.

Within a year of graduating Hayley was successful in applying to the Probation Qualification Framework and was appointed as a Trainee Probation Officer by the then National Probation Service in 2014 in Cheshire. She completed placements in Offender Management, Courts and Approved Premises as well as completing VQ training and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Community Justice with Sheffield Hallam University.

Qualifying as a Probation Officer in early 2016, Hayley worked as a Community Offender Manager across North Liverpool and worked there for a number of years. During this time she also began studying part-time in Law and graduated a Master of Law in 2020. Hayley is currently studying a PGCert in Academic Practice and will soon be a National Teaching Fellow.

Hayley's Probation career continued and involved various roles as a Probation Officer such as a Court Report Writer, a Seconded Probation Officer in the Youth Justice Services, and managed people in the Community as well as Prison, This involved presenting Pre-Sentence Reports in Court, attending Oral Hearings, and visiting a number of adult male prisons.

In more recent years, Hayley developed a strong interest in Stalking and Stalking Behaviours, and worked as the SPOC across North Cheshire. This role involved close working with Cheshire Police's Harm Reduction Unit and managing those assessed as high risk of serious harm, and convicted or showing behaviours of stalking. To further her knowledge, Hayley completed Stalker Risk Profiling training led by Dr Troy McEwan (Centre for Forensic Behaviour Science, Swinburne University, Melbourne Australia) and Rachel MacKenzie (Monash University, Melbourne, Australia).

In November 2024, Hayley attended the two-day Alice Ruggles Trust Conference in Leicester. Hayley collected an award with her previously team, Harm Reduction Unit for "Working Together". This was fundamental in networking and knowledge exchange within the Community of those working with Stalkers and victims in practice and in research. Hayley had an article published in the Probation Quarterly on her knowledge and experience in a Discussion of current stalking provisions.


Hayley moved over to LJMU as an Academic Tutor, from the Probation Service in September 2023 keen to support the training of the new era of Probation Officers. She has shared her career journey in an article- Where are they Now in the Probation Quarterly in March 2025.

Languages

English

Degrees

2025, Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom, Post Graduate Certificate for Fellowship of Advanced HE
2020, Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom, LLM in Qualifying Law
2016, Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom, Post-Graduate Diploma in Community Justice
2013, Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom, BSc Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice

Academic appointments

PQiP Academic Tutor, School of Justice Studies, Liverpool John Moores University, 2023 - present

Postgraduate training

Probation Qualification Framework, United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, 2014 - 2016