Jack the Ripper in London

Humanities Students from EF Academy Torbay have just returned from a once in a lifetime experience in London focused on the theme of crime, the legal system and criminologist theory which included a major academic conference, a visit to the Royal Courts of Justice and a guided tour of the East End of London following the ghastly murder spree of the world’s first serial killer ‘Jack the Ripper’.
We arrived, not so, bright and early ready for the conference which gave us a fantastic insight into both the academic and the ‘real’ world of crime. This unique event explored one of the biggest questions in Criminology: What causes people to commit crime? Over the course of this one-day conference, there were a range of interactive and engaging lectures from some of the UK’s leading names in Criminology.
The keynote speaker and host on the day was one of the UK’s most influential public criminologists, star of ITV’s Bring Back Borstal and presenter of Channel 5’s Killer Psychopaths, Professor David Wilson. Professor Wilson will open the conference and give an introductory lecture entitled “What is Criminology?” This lecture gave students an introduction to the academic discipline of Criminology and discussed how the following lectures were all linked to the fundamental criminologist question: why do people choose to commit crime?
Notably, the conferences included a question and answer session with Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, one of the UK’s most prolific ex-bank robbers. Noel discussed in detail, his life story exploring the choices he made that lead to him spending over 30 years in prison. Other speakers on the day included: Dr. Elizabeth Yardley, Director of the Centre for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University; Professor Graham Pike, Professor of Forensic Cognition at the Open University; Craig Pinkney BA (Hons) MA (Crim), Lecturer in Criminology at University College Birmingham and Urban Youth Specialist; and, Liam Brolan BA (Hons), MA (Crim) a PhD student in Criminology at Birmingham City University and founder of CrimiKnowledge. Throughout the day, students were encouraged to think critically about the material being presented so that they were able to formulate their own views and opinions on the topics in discussion.
After a brief rest in our hotel we made our way to the ‘Old East End’, around the White Chapel area of the city for a walking tour of the murder sights of the 19th Century serial killer Jack the Ripper.
“Jack the Ripper” is the popular name given to a serial killer who killed a number of prostitutes in the East End of London in 1888. The name originates from a letter written by someone who claimed to be the killer published at the time of the murders. The killings took place within a mile area and involved the districts of Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Aldgate, and the City of London proper. He was never caught and mystery has continued about who he was with some even speculating that he was an important member of Queen Victoria’s family.
The following day we made our way to the Covent Garden area of the city and we had a chance to shop eat and take in the sights before we made our way to the river Thames to look at the Houses of Parliament. The afternoon gave us another unique experience because visited the Royal Courts of Justice, the highest court in the land for a guided tour and the chance to play out a murder case in one of the 70 court rooms in the building. We even had the funny wigs!!!
What a fantastic city and an incredible experience with such value to our understanding of the humanities subject we study.