Criminology of Poisoning Contexts (eBook)

This accessible book examines poisoning in various contexts of international conflict. It explores the modern-day use of poison in warfare, terrorism, assassination, mass suicide, serial poisoning within healthcare, and as capital punishment. It examines a broad range of international cases from the Americas, Europe, Japan, India and more in relation to Situational Crime Prevention and its theoretical precursors, in order to explore potential prevention strategies and the ways in which perpetrators circumvent them. Case studies include analysis of attempts on the lives of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, the Tokyo subway attacks, the crimes of Dr. Harold Shipman and the Heaven's Gate and Jonestown cults. For each, the means, motive, opportunity, location, and perpetrator-victim relationship is examined. This accessible book speaks to students of criminology and those interested in penology, careers in criminal justice, homicide detectives, anti-terrorism personnel, forensic pathologists and toxicologists.


Michael Farrell works as a private consultant and has lectured or provided consultancy services in various countries including China, Japan, the Seychelles, Australia, Peru, Sweden, the Emirates and the UK. He has held senior posts in schools and units for people with various mental disorders; managed a UK-wide psychometric project for City University London and led teams inspecting mainstream and special schools and units. He has contributed to radio and television programmes in the UK and elsewhere and has written articles on crime and poisoning in a range of medical, psychological, police, and legal journals.