Richard Hoskins (born 1964) is an author and

criminologist Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

, with expertise in African ritual crime.''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''. 1 July 2012.

Early life

Hoskins was born in

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

, Buckinghamshire, in February 1964, and educated at

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils 13–18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. ...

, at

Bedford School Bedford School is a 7–18 Single-sex education, boys Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the county town of Bedford in England. Founded in 1552, it is the oldest of four independent schools in Bedford run by the Harpur Trust. Bed ...

, and at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

, before a Special Short Service Commission in 3rd Battalion the

Royal Anglian Regiment The Royal Anglian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the line regi ...

. At the age of twenty-one Hoskins travelled to Africa intending a gap year, but stayed from 1986 until 1992.The Boy in the River, , Pan Macmillan Upon returning to Britain, Hoskins enrolled at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

to read theology and took a double First, before completing a PhD at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. Hoskins went on to be a senior lecturer at

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, Somerset, Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshi ...

, and a senior research fellow at

. He has taught religious studies at

Shebbear College Shebbear College is an all-through school, all-through Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day and boarding school for pupils aged 4 – 18 situated in Shebbear, Devon, Shebbear, Devon, England. The school's 85-acre rura ...

in Devon.

Expert witness

Whilst working at Bath Spa University, Hoskins was called upon by the Metropolitan Police Service to work as an

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

in the

Torso in the Thames "Adam" was the name police gave to an unidentified male child whose torso was discovered in the River Thames in London, United Kingdom, on 21 September 2001. Investigators believe the child was likely from southwestern Nigeria, and that several ...

case. He has since been called as an expert witness in over a hundred criminal cases, including numerous high-profile murders, such as those of

Victoria Climbié Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Jodi Jones and the Eric Bikubi and Magalie Bamu case. Hoskins has been called upon to provide commentary on these cases and the related field by numerous press organisations. He is an expert on African religions.Hoskins, Richard 2005 ‘African Religions and Nature Conservation’ Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature ContinuumHoskins, Richard 2005 ‘Biodiversity and Religion in Equatorial Africa’ Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature ContinuumHoskins, Richard 2005 ‘Muti and African Healing’ Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature ContinuumHoskins, Richard 2005 ‘Muti Killings’ Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature ContinuumHoskins, Richard 2006 ‘The Torment of Africa’s ‘child witches’’ Sunday Times 5 February 2006Hoskins, Richard 2006 Witch Child BBC2 60-minute documentary broadcast 6 April 2006 October Films He is the only registered multi-cultural expert on the UK national police SOCA database.Hoskins, Richard 2012 'The Witchcraft Monster Reared in our Midst' The Sunday Times 4 March 2012 Hoskins has made television and radio appearances concerning numerous cases, most notably a documentary for the BBC entitled "Witch Child", a documentary concerned with the

case and a BBC Radio 4 programme. He is a Patron of the Build Africa charity. More recently, Hoskins was asked by detectives of

Wiltshire Police Wiltshire Police, formerly known as Wiltshire Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Wiltshire (including the Borough of Swindon) in South West England. The force serves 722,000 people over an area ...

to examine claims made by "Lucy X" of a VIP satanic sex-abuse ring which included the former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath, as part of two separate investigations by the force into sexual abuse. Fearing that he may be removed from the police database of experts as a result of his revelations,

Personal life

Hoskins has been married twice. He currently lives in London where he writes crime fiction. He is a keen runner and completed the 2014 London Marathon in 2 hours 45 minutes, placing him 7th for all over 50. He lived for four years as a woman, but de-transitioned in 2020.

Publications

Hoskins' first book, ''

The Boy in the River ''The Boy in the River'' is a 2012 book by the British author and criminologist Richard Hoskins about the 'Adam' murder case. Background Hoskins lived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1986 to 1992, initially on a gap year. He sub ...

'', was published by

Pan Macmillan Pan Books is a British publishing imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany. History Pan Books began as an indepe ...

and became a ''Sunday Times'' bestseller, receiving critical praise in several press publications. ''The Boy in the River'' was named Gold Winner in the Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards 2013. The panel of judges "highly commended" the "gripping story".

References

External links

Dr Richard Hoskins Writer and CriminologistRichard's Youtube ChannelLAW – Writers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoskins, Richard 1964 births Living people People educated at Uppingham School People educated at Bedford School Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of King's College London Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst People from Beaconsfield