Biography
Mike Sutton was born in Orpington Kent in England in 1959. He attended Ramsden Infant and primary schools in Orpington Kent and West End Primary School, and then Wigan Road Secondary School in Ormskirk, Lancashire. Within just 9 months he studied for and gained two A levels (Sociology and Economic History) at Wigan Technical College in Wigan.
Mike is a notable alumnus, with a first degree in law and PhD in criminology from the University of Central Lancashire..On graduating with second class honours in law, he was appointed as a research assistant for three years, during which period he completed his PhD and then stayed on for a year to cover the module leadership teaching of two criminology modules: namely, the Sociology of Crime (second year) and Crime and Deviant Behaviour t(third year). His PhD studies supervisor was Professor Cindy Fazey. His second supervisor was Professor Paul Wiles of Sheffield University, who later went on to be Chief Scientific Officer to the Home Office. His external examiner was Professor Terence Morris.
Mike's PhD, Differential rates of vandalism in a new town: Towards a theory of relative place,.is based on vandalism in Skelmersdale new town, where he lived throughout the programme of his doctoral studies.
On leaving the University of Central Lancashire, Mike Sutton was for 14 years a senior criminologist (Research Officer and then Senior Research officer) at the British Home Office, Queen Anne's Gate. In 2001, he became Reader in Criminology at Nottingham Trent University, where he founded the 'Centre for Study and Reduction of Bias, Prejudice and Hate Crime'.
In 1999, Mike won, along with Dave Mann, the British Journal of Criminology Prize for their jointly published virtual ethnographic research on hackers, which was deemed to have made the most significant contribution to criminological knowledge in 1998-1999.
Mike is the originator of the
Market Reduction Approach to Theft, the
Supermyth concept and the
IDD research method.
In 2014, Sutton used the Big Data-IDD method to find books, which bust the 155-year-old myth started by Darwin that no naturalist known to him had read Patrick Matthew's prior publication of the full theory of natural selection. Mike uniquely discovered seven naturalists had cited Matthew's book before 1858. Darwin knew four and three played major roles at the epicenter of influence on Darwin's pre-1858 work on natural selection.
 |
| Nullius in Verba (e-book, 600 pages 2014) |
Prior to the publication of '
Nullius' as an e-book in 2014 by ThinkerMedia, and just before that publisher ceased business in December 2017, as vol.1 of three planned derived volumes in paperback in 2017, it was universally believed that Charles Darwin told the truth when he wrote in 1860 that apparently no naturalist had read the orignal ideas in Patrick Matthew's 1831 book, which contained the first full conception of the hypothesis of macroevolution by natural selection
.
Nullius in Verba: Darwin's greatest secret is the hard-fact mythbusting book that re-wrote the history of the discovery of natural selection with new Big Data made discoveries of the once hidden books that reveal Darwin and Wallace actually knew several naturalists who really
did read Patrick Matthew's prior publication of the full theory of natural selection - because, it is newly discovered, they cited it in published books and articles, years before Darwin and Wallace supposedly 'independently' replicated it in 1858 with, supposedly, no knowledge of what Matthew had discovered that their friends and influencers
had read and actually cited in the literature before influencing them!
The 600 page detailed E-book
Nullius is no longer available on
Amazon.. Since it was hacked by Russians and is available for sale by copyright thieving criminals, on illegal pirate book sites worldwide, there are no current plans to re-publish it on Kindle.or any other e-book platform. The new (second edition) abridged and updated (2017) paperback (vol.1 of three or more planned volumes) is available on all Amazon sites worldwide e.g. UK (
here) and USA (
here) and can be obtained from all good book shops and any library.
 |
| Vol.1 second edition |
Mike commissioned the
artist Gabriel woods to paint an allegorical analogy to explain to atheist biologists and other Darwinists why the new evidence means that, contrary to the 155 year old science myth, created by Darwin and parroted by credulous Darwinists ever since, other naturalists in fact not only read but also cited Matthew's book in the literature. Moreover, the painting reflects the fact that we now newly know that Darwin knew four of those naturalists and three of them played major roles at the epicenter of influence on Darwin's and Wallace's work on natural slection before 1858. The point of the painting is that it would be a miracle of immaculate cognitive conception - on par with the mythical miraculous supernatural divine conception of the Christian prophet Jesus of Nazareth by the Blessed St Mary - if Darwin and Wallace were gifted some kind of divine cognitive contraceptive to prevent those they knew - who they admitted influenced them - from influencing them with the unique ideas they each replicated that were uniquely in the book that their influences read before influencing them! Rationally, in light of the new data,discovered by Sutton,
knowledge contamination seems far more probable then immaculate cognitive conception.
Immaculate Deception - Oil on Canvas by Gabriel Woods (2015)
The British, Nottingham based, artist Gabriel Woods (May 2015) explains the essential rationale for his portrait "Immaculate Deception":
"The picture represents Charles Robert Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, who both claimed they each independently discovered the theory of natural selection with no prior knowledge of Patrick Matthew's earlier work. Patrick Matthew is represented in the allegorical painting as the infant."
More of Gabriel Woods' art can be found on his page on
You can read Mike's Amazon Books Author page
In April (Easter) 2015, Mike discovered the etymological origins in English of the terms Easter Bunny (Bunnie) and Easter eggs. He also discovered the apparent etymological origin of 'April fools' - suggesting fools errand pranks, originally, might have been played for the entire month. On October 31st. 2015, he discovered the first published use of the words Hallowe'en and Halloween. On 1st November 2015, Mike published the first full etymology of Guy Fawkes Night. Also in November 2015 he discovered who first coined the word Darwinist and in what context.
In September 2016, Mike found the published use of the term "political honeymoon" dates back at least as far as 1866. And once again he beat the etymological experts at the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), by this time revealing that the publication of the term "social housing" dates back at least as far as 1913
In August 2016, Mike found better than 'smoking gun' evidence to disprove the myth that that the term and modern meaning of 'smoking gun' evidence originated from the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott" (1893). Sutton challenges the veracity of the story told by Cunningham that Berney Jr coined the word 'asteroid' for the Royal Society in 1861 because Sutton found it used for 273 years in over 100 books pre-1861.
Mike also discovered that:
In January 2018 Mike conceived the notion of the
Trunchbull Reflex ( #TrunchBullReflex) as an explanation for failure to believe atrocities and other outrageous behaviour
In
2014 and 2016 Mike employed his same IDD research method, that discovered long-neglected publications that debunk the expert 'knowledge-claim' that not a single naturalist read Patrick Matthew's full prior-published conception of the hypotheses of macroevolution by natural selection (before Darwin and Wallace penned a word on the topic.
In October 2016 the IDD research method detected a long neglected 1939 translation of the accounts of the Gild of St George at St Peter's Church in Nottingham. That book, a scholarly translation of the orignal medieval documents, builds upon the prior research of others (see
Langley et al 2014) into the 15th century Hill v Hylton Court of Chancery case and how it provided a crucial lead towards the discovery of the grave of Richard III in a Leicester car park in 2012. The newly re-discovered self-published book found with IDD (
Hodgkinson 1939) establishes that a past Sheriff of Nottingham (Ralph Hill) sued an acting Mayor of Nottingham (Walter Hylton). Both men were in the same gild (guild). That Nottingham gild lent them money to carry out work on the monument for Richard III's tomb. Moreover, rather than make a new monument (according to current knowledge claims) befitting a dead king, it looks like there is now a new historical document evidence-led possibility that such a monument existed already and Hylton was contracted to repair it rather than make the first one himself. More details of that BigData discovery
here.
2. While researching the issue of such modern myths and their impact on policy making and practice, Mike created the Supermyth concept and the associated braced mythphrase as a supermyth sub-type.
3. He invented the Market Reduction Approach to theft (doubly archived here) . Mike is both the originator of the phrase and the concept known as the Market Reduction Approach (Sutton 1998). His original coining of the phrase and creation of the concept was applied to stolen goods markets in order to reduce theft.
4. Mike is the originator of the bad scholarship notion of dysology. The word itself existed before he thought it up independently (here). But its prior use suggests it may have been a possible typo - perhaps of dislogy. Mike also thinks of disology as the 'science of discovery' and also the practice and study of disrespect (see Disology.com)
5. Mike coined the phrase "
The phrase is the concept" and is the originator of the concept that the phrase is the concept. He also coined the term
"Tech-lag Turkey".
9, On February 9th 2016 Mike coined the word "cycligan" to describe adults who ride bicycles in pedestrian areas - especially pavements (side-walks).
10. On 1
7th December 2008 Mike began developing the concept of
punterization:
punterized(also
punterised) and
punterization ( punterisation) as the dishing out (punterrization) - and awareness of being on the receiving end
(punterised) of - dishonest or disingenuous treatment. (
archived)
Admitting that more research is needed, Mike thinks he may be the first to use the words punterized and punterization in this particular sense.
Mike certainly never coined the word punterization, which has been in very rare usage (perhaps of Australian origin) to mean such things as normalised - or else "sexed-up" to appeal to the general population
here. And
here as early as 2005.
In 2016 Mike came up with the notion of the '
Rifkin Imperative' to seek to explain why some offenders appear unable to resist bragging about exploits in cases where such bragging leads to their detection.
Mike Sutton is the originator of several unique hypotheses:
1.
The Market Reduction Approach Hypothesis:
Since most prolific thieves steal to sell and need to sell rapidly, reducing and making it more difficult and risky to deal in stolen goods markets will reduce the incidence of theft.
2.
The Dysology Hypothesis:
Letting scholars get away with publishing fallacies and myths signals to others the existence of topics where guardians of good scholarship might be less capable than elsewhere. Such dysology then serves as an allurement to poor scholars to disseminate existing myths and fallacies and to create and publish their own in these topic areas, which leads to a downward spiral of diminishing veracity on particular topics.
3.
The Crime Substitution Hypothesis:
Since the Routine Activities Theory (RAT) is a theory of how crime shifts and changes in relation to changes in society - and according to Felson and Boba (2010) the key to such changes is the technology of everyday life - then a significant amount of online activity and games console playing at home might be keeping people off the streets for significant periods every day and reducing the amount of hourly availability of victims and offenders in the offline world, while ensuring homes are occupied for more hours every day. If it is, and yet that is not responsible for the currently unfathomable 15 year decline in violent crime, car crime and burglary in the Western world then routine activities alone may be nothing like as a good an explanation for high volume crime as its adherents think it is. Of course, the 15 year crime drop in the offline world may be taking place in a direct inverse relationship with online offending such as fraud, stalking, virus spreading, hacking and copyright theft etc - which RAT would explain. This appears to be an important issue with huge implications for criminology and crime reduction policy making. Mike has published blog articles on this topic and two articles with his colleague Professor Mark Griffiths (1) Here (2) Here
4.
The Frozen Donkey Hypothesis:
If one encounters a frozen donkey in the road, standing, for all the world as though alive, no amount of reasoning, patience, impatient berating or rational cajoling will entice it to shift its position. The donkey is not merely being stubborn. Why not? Because it is bereft of life. The donkey can think no more, all mental faculties have ceased to be. The only solution is to go around it. Darwinist historians of science are behaving like frozen donkeys. Unable to adapt to a sudden change in their circumstances, they succumb to those circumstances. If they continue to do so they will be circumvented by scholars better able to adapt to the New Data. Once significantly circumvented, Darwinist historians of science will lose their power of occupancy in the literature on the topic of the discovery of natural selection. Once that happens they will shortly become intellectually extinct.
5.
The April Fools Month Hypothesis:
In 1678, in England, April Fools meant people being sent, as a joke, on a fools errand. And 20 years later the same meaning applied in London. I wonder if, historically, the shenanigans were carried on for the whole month of April? After all, only the month and no day is mentioned. If so, perhaps the lengthy entertainment period served some long forgotten social and economic purpose?
6.
The Rotten Easter Eggs Hypothesis:
In 16th Century Britain, it seems quite possible that the Easter egg arrived on these shores pre-named, or else was "christened", on independent invention or re-generation, with the sole sinister purpose as ammunition to throw at Catholic priests tied to crosses in public punishment spectacles in Scotland.
Those who the ID method in Google's Library reveals are apparently first to be second with apparently original words, terms or phrases more likely than not replicated them because they read them first in the apparently original source.
In absence of disconfirming evidence for the currently available evidence that Patrick Matthew (1831) originated (was first) to write and have published the Artificial Selection versus Natural Selection Analogy, when he wrote...:
'... in timber trees the opposite course has been pursued. The large growing varieties being so long of coming to produce seed, that many plantations are cut down before they reach this maturity, the small growing and weakly varieties, known by early and extreme seeding, have been continually selected as reproductive stock, from the ease and conveniency with which their seed could be procured; and the husks of several kinds of these invariably kiln-dried, in order that the seeds might be the more easily extracted. May we, then, wonder that our plantations are occupied by a sickly short-lived puny race, incapable of supporting existence in situations where their own kind had formerly flourished—particularly evinced in the genus Pinus,more particularly in the species Scots Fir; so much inferior to those of Nature's own rearing, where only the stronger, more hardy, soil-suited varieties can struggle forward to maturity and reproduction?
We say that the rural economist should pay as much regard to the breed or particular variety of his forest trees, as he does to that of his live stock of horses, cows, and sheep. That nurserymen should attest the variety of their timber plants, sowing no seeds but those gathered from the largest, most healthy, and luxuriant growing trees..'
‘The use of the infinite seedling varieties in the families of plants, even in those in a state of nature, differing in luxuriance of growth and local adaptation, seems to be to give one individual (the strongest best circumstance-suited) superiority over others of its kind around, that it may, by overtopping and smothering them, procure room for full extension, and thus affording, at the same time, a continual selection of the strongest, best circumstance suited for reproduction. Man’s interference, by preventing this natural process of selection among plants, independent of the wider range of circumstances to which he introduces them, has increased the difference in varieties, particularly in the more domesticated kinds…’
...then I propose that Patrick Matthew (1831) was not only
first to originate and have published the full hypothesis of natural selection, but that he also originated (was first to publish) the
Artificial Selection versus Natural Selection Analogy of Differences, which has been missed by Darwinists until I wrote about it on PatrickMatthew.com, because the majority of them are biologists, and biologists, as a disciplinary group, are unique in that they believe analogies must explain only similarities. In originating this powerfully simple analogy of differences between natural and artificial selection, which was later replicated by both Darwin and Wallace to explain the complexities natural selection, Matthew originated an explanation that changed the world, because - it is newly discovered
(Sutton 2014, 2106) his book was read and cited pre-1858 by several naturalists who Darwin and Wallace admitted were their major influencers on the topic of varieties and species and organic evolution.
Biography
Mike Sutton served terms of office as External Examiner for Forensic Criminology at Sheffield Hallam University (UK).and Criminology ar Birmingham City University
What is the MRA?
The first systematic study of the various ways that stolen goods are stored, sold and bought - going beyond the previous focus upon the guilty mind and level of involvement of dealers and consumers - was conducted by
Mike Sutton who created a fivefold market typology based on his in-depth interviews with expert prolific thieves, inexperienced thieves, fences, drug dealers and stolen goods consumers. In 1998, the UK Home Office published Sutton's report proposing a systematic framework for researching and tackling local stolen goods markets. This is the Market Reduction Approach (MRA) for tackling theft.
International Recognition and International Policy Impact
Sutton's MRA is currently recommended good crime reduction and policing practice on websites hosted by the US Government's Depart of Justice ( see
here, and
here) the British Government's Home Office (see page 9
here) and several examples of his published work are stored in the UK National Archive. His MRA is also recommended by the Australian Government's Institute of Criminology (
here), and New Zealand's Ministry of Justice (
here and
here).
Sutton has numerous scholarly publications in the field of hate crimes, bias and prejudice, including a mythbusting UK Government report and guide on the best use of media in reducing ‘racial’ prejudice. What Sutton discovered, during the time he was working on this project, about the effect of bias on racism, and the effect of bias on efforts to tackle it, led him to look in more depth at the issue of bias in all fields, particularly in understanding more about how myths are created, reinforced and disseminated. Sutton is particularly interested in understanding how knowledge about the dynamic life of myths might be utilised in developing the strangely neglected field of how best to tackle them. This is an area that he calls dysology studies. Lessons learned in this field may well be useful for reducing, hate crimes of all kinds, cultural, religious, and ethnic prejudices as well as all areas where it is important that veracity is maintained in the public interest – such as in all areas of science and medicine.
Wikipedia covers some of his published and peer-to-peer highlights:
Here and
here. With reference to his earlier mythbusting on spinach, iron and Popeye, click
here. However, Mike's very latest work on that topic can be found by clicking
here.
A Notable Alumnus
Sutton is recognised as a notable alumnus of the
University of Central Lancashire (UCL). His Alma Mater uses its connection with him as one of its graduates and post-graduates, and his later published work, as a prestige indicator in its overseas promotions (e.g.:
here). He was, in 1987, the first person to be awarded a non natural sciences PhD at UCL.
Peer Review Activities
Mike is regularly called upon to perform scholarly review duties. He has peer reviewed papers, articles, research reports and research applications from numerous organisations and journals including: The Economic and Social Research Council, The Rand Co-operation, The US Department of Justice, The AXA Research Fund, the British Home Office, the British Journal of Criminology, The Journal of Crime and Justice, Criminology and Public Policy, and the Security Journal
DETAILED EVIDENCE OF THE INFLUENCE OF SUTTON'S WORK ON POLICY FROM 1990-2011.
By Mike Sutton
Evidence of Policy Impact of my research
I am the originator of the Market Reduction Approach to theft (MRA), and my research in this area has, for more than a decade, influenced government policy advice and policy making in Britain and elsewhere. Several British police forces have sought to reduce theft with the MRA.
In 1999, the MRA was implemented for the first time when Kent Constabulary sought to use it in its
Operation Radium to reduce high levels of burglary and other theft in the Medway Towns of Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham and Strood, which were given the collective pseudonym South Town (
Home Office 2004). This initiative led to the passing of several local Acts of Parliament throughout England to regulate trade in second hand goods, with an aim to reduce Supply by Theft (Sutton 1995) including the
Kent Acts(2001) and the
Nottingham City Council Act (2003).
The MRA was mentioned at National Government level, along with my work in Parliamentary debate (Hansard 2000) and the Kent Acts later in Parliamentary Business (
Hansard 2004). In 1999, the British Home Office funded the implementation of the MRA in three police forces:
Kent, West Mercia and
Stockport in Greater Manchester (
Home Office 2006), followed by a Government funded evaluation by the University of Kent of the implementation and impact of the MRA in
Kent and
Greater Manchester (Harris, Hale and Uglow 2003;
Hale et al (2004).
Other MRA schemes have been implemented in Britain in Nottinghamshire and
Derby City constabularies. In 2011, the MRA was defined as a core policing core practice and as a performance indicator by
Nottinghamshire Constabulary and the
City’s Crime Reduction Partnership. I continue to publish in the area of tackling stolen goods markets (e.g.
Sutton 2010) and advise police at local, national and international levels. I occasionally act as an unpaid ad-hoc informal ‘skeptical friend’ (academic adviser) for various police forces through meetings, email and telephone conversations. In 2011, I addressed a British audience of chief police officers through the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO National Burglary Reduction Working Group) on the subject of the MRA and the importance of veracity to inform policy in policing and crime reduction (7/9/2011).
Although the MRA has been promoted as ‘good practice’ by the British Government and has been used by several police forces, it has not proved possible to evaluate its impact in reducing crime due to a number of factors, not least the extent of confounding variables that impact upon crime rates at both the local and national level. Despite lack of evidence of its effectiveness in reducing crime, the UK Government, US Government, Australian Government and New Zealand Government (somewhat surprisingly) promote it as good ‘effective’ policing and general crime reduction practice:
Wider Influence of my MRA on Criminology
The MRA has been quite widely cited in the literature on crime reduction by criminologists including Marcus Felson and Ronald Clarke (See
Wikipedia 2011;
2011a;
2011b for a reasonably comprehensive list). Here are just a few examples of how the MRA has influenced and/or been cited as important research in other areas beyond the theft of high volume consumer goods:
Wildlife crime and endangered species
Trafficking in people
- Reduce human trafficking: Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe Report (e.g. see page 1) Combatting Trafficking in Humans: Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe Report (e.g. see page 1)
Art and Cultural artefact crime
- Theft and Trafficking of Art and Cultural Artefacts: Manacorda, S. and Chappell, D. (eds.) (2011) Crime in the Art and Antiques World: Illegal Trafficking in Cultural Property. New York. Springer.
Some Examples of the Impact of My Other Work on Crime Reduction and Bias and Prejudice Reduction Policy Guidance and Policy Making
Within England
- Publication of Sutton, M. Perry, B. Parke J. and John-Baptiste, C. (2007) Getting the Message Across: Using media to reduce ‘racial’ prejudice. Department of Communities and Local Government. London. (Peer reviewed national government research report). Led to speaking engagement with National and local government representatives and members of anti-racism organisations: where I was Keynote speaker at a forum held in Scotland and funded by the Glasgow Anti-Racist Alliance (GARA). Subsequently, the Getting the Message Across report also used in a Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights submission to the Council of Europe Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
- Newcastle City Council relied upon the Getting the Message Across report to shape its policy making .
Within Scotland
On 26 August 2011, The Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (formerly known as the Glasgow Anti Racist Alliance) sent a written submission to the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee regarding the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland). Bill. The submission informed Parliament of the dangers of implementing uninformed racism reductions measures that are likely to backfire and make the problem worse. The submission
cited the myth busting research contained within the ‘
Getting the Message Across’ report (Sutton et al 2007). Policy making advice within the ‘Getting the Message Across’ report inspired the Glasgow Anti Racist Alliance (Now Coalition for Racial Equality and Human Rights - CREHR) to
successfully apply for funding to test its recommendations. They wrote:
"The project was funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and used recommendations from the Communities and Local Government report “Getting the message across: using media to reduce racial prejudice and discrimination” (Sutton et al., 2007) as impetus to undertake a local research project.”
US Government Office of Justice
Click on ‘evidence base’ and ‘additional references’ at the end of the section in the report link given below to see how work I conducted in 1996 is used to construct a current US Office of Justice effective solutions guide . These sources were used in the development of the program profile, which lists: (1) Ekblom, P., Law, H. and Sutton, M. with assistance from Paul Crisp and Richard Wiggins. (1996). Safer Cities and Domestic Burglary. Home Office Research Study 164. London, England: Home Office; and (2) Sutton, M. (1996). Implementing Crime Prevention Schemes in a Multiagency Setting: Aspects of Process in the Safer Cities Programme. London, England: Home Office.
The US Government Office of Justice currently publishes a series of abstracts on my work. E.g.:
1. Crime Surveys in the 21st Century
2. Internet Crime
My Research Reports in the UK National Archive
Several of my policy oriented research reports have been placed in the UK Government’s National Archive Collection. These include:
References
Hansard (2004) Written Answers. Bound Volume. Parliamentary Business. May 13, 2004. Column 573W—continued:
Stolen Goods.(
archived)
Harris, C. Hale, C and Uglow, S. (2003) Implementing a Market Reduction Approach to Property Crime. In: Tilley, N. and Bullock, K., (eds). Crime Reduction and Problem Oriented Policing. Devon, Willan.
Hale, C. Harris, C. Uglow, S. Gilling. L and Netten, A. (2004).
Targeting the markets for stolen goods: two targeted policing initiative projects. Home Office Development and Practice Report 17.
Home Office (2004)
Secure Design. Targeting the Markets for Stolen Goods: Two targeted policing initiative projects.
National Deviancy Conference (2011) Sutton, M, Hamilton, P., and Hodgson, P. The Problem of Zombie Cops in Voodoo Criminology. National Deviancy Conference York. July/Aug.
Nottingham City Council Act (2003) Sutton, M. (1995) Supply by Theft: does the market for second-hand goods play a role in keeping crime figures high? British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 38, No 3, Summer.
Sutton, M. (2010)
Stolen Goods Markets. Problem Oriented Policing Guide No. 57. U.S.A. Department of Justice COPS Programme. (Peer reviewed international policing guide.
Sutton, M. Perry, B. Parke J. and John-Baptiste, C. (2007)
Getting the Message Across: Using media to reduce ‘racial’ prejudice. Department of Communities and Local Government. London. (Peer reviewed national government research report).
Here
The Kent Acts (2001). A Case for National Legislation: Report to the Secretary of State in compliance with section 20 (1) of the Kent County Council Act 2001 and section 20 (1) of the Medway Council Act 2001
CURRICULUM VITAE
Teaching, research, administration and management profile
My current position is
Reader in Criminology at Nottingham
Trent University.
I am the founding Director of the Academic Centre of Excellence: Nottingham Centre for the Study and Reduction
of Hate Crimes, Bias and Prejudice. I am also Director and Founding General
Editor of the Internet Journal of Criminology. I am active in research and
publishing in the areas of illicit markets, crime reduction, fraud, hi-tech
crimes, racial prejudice, discrimination, hate crimes, and the impact of bad
science on public policy making.
I am the course leader
for MA Criminology and undergraduate subject leader for the Hi-Tech Crime and
Crime Reduction modules in BA (Hons) Criminology at Nottingham Trent
University. I also engage
in some shared teaching of the Introduction to Criminology (year 1) Module. I am External Examiner for the BA (Hons)
course at Birmingham
City University.
I am active in reviewing research council bids and peer reviewing journal
articles for major journals including The British Journal of Criminology, Journal
of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Internet Journal of Criminology, Journal
of Quantitative Criminology, Security Journal. I am on the editorial Board of the Security
Journal. I am currently Director of Studies for 3 PhD students.
In my former employment
as a social scientist working for the UK Home Office, I trained and gained
experienced in the use of qualitative and quantitative methods - including non-participatory
observation, in-depth interviewing and national survey data modelling. Work for
the Home Office included project management, research commissioning and
editorial duties. I have published in areas including policing, environmental
criminology, sentencing, practical and theoretical aspects of crime prevention,
stolen goods markets, hi-tech crime and national survey research, and the
impact of bad data on public policy making.
Key Accomplishments:
Other criminological research
My teaching and research in general crime reduction, hi-tech
crimes, hate crimes, racism, racial prejudice and discrimination has a strong
element of policy oriented crime, criminality and social-harm reduction.
I devised and designed the Market Reduction Approach (MRA)
to theft, which has been implemented in several UK
police forces and independently evaluated by university academics with UK
government funding. The MRA is now a recommended UK government Home Office
crime reduction strategy and is recommended on crime reduction websites run by
US and Australian government departments.
I am active in research and publishing in the areas of illicit
markets, hi-tech crime and general crime reduction.
I devised the IDD research method, which amongst other mythbusts, originally unearthed literature in 2013/14 that totally disproves the prior-scientific establishment cherished and beloved myth that no naturalist at all/none know to Charles Darwin or Alfred Wallace had read Patrick Matthew's (1831) prior published complete theory of macroevolution by natural selection. The bombshell💣 findings are in my 2014, 2016 book
Nullius in Verba: Darwin's Greatest Secret and in two expert peer reviewed academic journal articles:
here and
here. The IDD method and a small samples of original mythbusting findings made with it are in another expert peer reviewed journal article -
here. The IDD method also bust the Spinach, Popeye and Iron Decimal Point Error Myth. That supermyth bust has been explained in several of my papers and essays and is covered by others in a number of textbooks (see
here).
My Mythbusting articles on Spinach
Spinach, Iron and Popeye: Ironic lessons from biochemistry and history on the importance of healthy eating, healthy scepticism and adequate citation (Sutton 2010) (here and here and also here)
The Spinach, Popeye, Iron, Decimal Error Myth is Finally Busted (Sutton, M. 2010) (here)
Did Popeye Really Increase Spinach Consumption and Production by 33 percent in 1936? (here)(Original Best Thinking blog post archived in full here)
SPIN@GE USA Beware of the Bull: The United States Department of Agriculture is Spreading Bull about Spinach, Iron and Vitamin C (Sutton 2011) (Here)
Spin@ge II: Does the United States Department of Agriculture’s Publication of Spuriofacts Have its Origins in a Perverse Scientific Paper Written in 1937? (Sutton, M. June 2012) (here and archived here)
How the spinach, Popeye and iron decimal point error myth was finally bust (Sutton 2010) (Here and also here)
Qualifications
1983-1987
Ph.D.
University of Central Lancashire
UK. Thesis
title: "Differential rates of vandalism in a new town: towards a theory of
relative place."
1980-1983
B.A.
(Hons.) Law. University
of Central Lancashire.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2001 – 2018 Reader in Criminology. Founding Director Nottingham
Centre for the Study and Reduction of Hate Crimes, Bias and Prejudice. Nottingham Trent University.
Founding General Editor of the Internet Journal of Criminology.
1989-2001 Home
Office – UK
Government, Research, Statistics and
Development Directorate, Policing and Reducing Crime Unit, Senior Research Officer. Managing crime reduction, organised crime
and hi-tech crime research programmes. Programme evaluation, national crime survey design and analysis,
report writing, editing and publishing in learned journals. Project management.
Commissioning research.
1988-1989 Freelance
Research Consultant. Working mainly for Lancashire Probation Service
H.Q. Conducting quantitative data
analysis for internal management/administrative purposes.
1987-1988
Lancashire
Polytechnic, Lecturer in Law.
Temporary one-year lectureship to replace a member of staff on secondment. Subject Leader for sociology and criminology
options on the LLB/B.A. (Hons.) Law programme.
1983-1987 Lancashire
Polytechnic, School
of Law, Research Assistant. Part-time teaching duties in business law and sociology of the
legal process.
PUBLICATIONS
National government policy-oriented research reports and books
Sutton, M
(2017) Sutton, M. (2014) Nullius in Verba: Darwin’s greatest secret. Paperback
(Vol.1. Second edition. (here)
Allen, J. Forrest, S. Levi, M. Roy, H. Sutton, M. (2005)
Fraud and Technology Crimes: Findings from
the 2002/3 British Crime Survey and 2003 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey. Home
Office Online Report 34/05 (Peer reviewed
national government research report).
http://library.npia.police.uk/docs/hordsolr/rdsolr3405.pdf
Sutton, M. (1998) Handling
Stolen Goods and Theft: A Market Reduction Approach. Home Office
Research Study 178. Home Office. London.
(Peer reviewed national government research report)
Sutton, M. (1996) Implementing
Crime Prevention Schemes in a Multi-Agency Setting: aspects of process in the
Safer Cities Programme. Home Office Research Study 160. London: Home Office. (Peer
reviewed national government research
report)
Ekblom, P. Law, H. and Sutton, M. (1996) Domestic Burglary Schemes in the Safer Cities Programme. Home
Office Research Study No. 164. London:
Home Office. (Peer reviewed national government
research report)
Sutton, M. (1993) From
Receiving to Thieving: the market for stolen goods and the incidence of theft.
Home Office Research Bulletin, No 34. London: Home Office.
Foster, J. and Hope, T. with Dowds, L. and Sutton, M.
(1993). Housing Community and Crime: The Impact of the Priority Estates
Project. Home Office Research Study 131. London.
HMSO. (Peer reviewed national government research report)
Moxon, David, Hedderman, C., and Sutton, M. (1990)
Deductions from benefit for fine
default. Home Office Research
Paper 60. London: Home Office. (Peer reviewed national
government research report)
Moxon, David, Sutton, M., and Hedderman, C. (1990) Unit
fines: experiments in four courts. Home
Office Research Paper 59. London: Home Office. (Peer
reviewed National government research report)
Journal articles and other expert peer reviewed – non book
- publications
Sutton, M. and Griffiths, M.
(2018) Using Date Specific Searches on Google Books to Disconfirm Prior
Origination Knowledge Claims for Particular Terms, Words, and Names.
Social
Sciences Journal.
Here
Mike Sutton (2018) Routine
Activity Theory’s ‘Mindless’ Chemistry Meme masquerades as a theory of crime
causation.
Internet Journal of Criminology. Here
Mike Sutton (2017) Fencing and
Stolen Goods Markets. Oxford Bibliographies. Oxford University Press.
Here
Sutton (2015) On Knowledge Contamination: New
Data Challenges Claims of Darwin’s and Wallace’s Independent Conceptions of
Matthew’s Prior-Published Hypothesis. Filozoficzne Aspekty Genezy — 2015, t. 12
Philosophical
Aspects of Origin.
Here
Mike Sutton (2014) The hi-tech detection of
Darwin’s and Wallace’s possible science fraud.
Papers from the British
Criminology Conference.
Here.
Sutton, M. and Hodgson, P.
(2013) The Problem of Zombie Cops in Voodoo Criminology: Arresting the Police
Patrol 100 Yard Myth. The
Internet Journal of Criminology.
Here
Sutton, M. and Tseloni, A.
(2011). Area Crime and Fear of Crime Levels: Has analysis of the British Crime
Survey diluted crime concentration and homogenised risk?' Criminology [εγκληματολογία
](Special Issue): Fear of Crime: A
Comparative Approach in the European Context. pp. 32-39. In. C. Zarafonitou. (Guest Editor) October 2011 Athens: Law Library.
Sutton, M. and Wright, C. (2009) Finding
the Far Right Online
Sutton, M. and Perry, B. (2009) Politicking the personal: examining academic
literature and British National Party beliefs and wishes about Intimate
Interracial Relationships and mixed heritage. Information & Communications Technology Law. Vol. 18, No. 2, June 2009, 83–98
Perry, B. and Sutton, M. (2008) Policing the Colour Line:
Violence Against Those in Intimate Interracial Relationships. Race, Gender
& Class. Volume 15, Number 3-4, 240-261.
Perry, B. and Sutton, M. (2006) Seeing Red over Black and White: Popular and
Media Representations of Interracial Relationships as Precursors to Racial
Violence. Canadian
Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice / Revue Canadienne de criminology
et de justice penale. Volume
48, Number 6, October 2006
Sutton, M. And Simmonds, D. (2004) Tackling
Burglary and other Theft with the Market Reduction Approach. Criminal
Justice Matters. No.55. Spring. 28-29
Sutton, M. (2003) Race Hatred and the Far Right on the
Internet. Criminal Justice Matters. Special Edition on Hate Crimes. No 48.
Summer. pp 26- 27.
Griffiths, M. and Sutton, M (2003) E-mails with Unintended Criminal
Consequences. The Criminal Lawyer, No.130, March, p6-8)
Mann, D., Sutton, M. and Tuffin, R. (2003) The Evolution of Hate: Social Dynamics in
White Racist Newsgroups. Internet Journal of Criminology. A peer
reviewed online journal: www.internetjournalofcriminology.com
Sutton, M. and Griffiths,
M. (2002) Far Right Groups on the
Internet: A New Problem for Crime Control and Community Safety? The Criminal
Lawyer. No.123. June. pp. 3-5.
Mann,
D. and Sutton, M. (1998)
>>NetCrime: More Change in the Organisation of Thieving. British
Journal of Criminology, Volume 38, No.2, Spring. This paper was the Winner of the Annual British Journal of Criminology Prize
– for the best article published in 1998 making a significant contribution to
knowledge.
Sutton,
M. (1995) Supply by Theft: does the
market for second-hand goods play a role in keeping crime figures high? British
Journal of Criminology, Vol. 38, No 3, Summer.
Sutton,
Mike (1988) Vandalism and the perceived
inequity theory, a critique of the equity based model of vandalism. Lancashire Polytechnic Law Review, Vol. 1,
No. 1, Spring.
Chapters in books
Sutton, M.
and Wright, C. (In Press - 2012) Finding the Far Right Online: An exploratory
study of white racialist websites. In Poynting, S. and Wilson, J. (eds) Sticks
and Stones: Writings and Drawings of Hatred. Ottawa. Red Quill Books.
Perry, B.
and Sutton, M. (In Press - 2012) Crossing the Line:
Discourses on intimate inter-racial relationships in the US and UK. In Poynting, S. and
Wilson, J. (eds) Sticks and Stones: Writings and Drawings of Hatred. Ottawa. Red Quill Books.
Sutton, M. (2010) Understanding and Tackling
Stolen Goods Markets. In Brookman, F. Maguire, M. Pierpoint, H and Bennett, T.
(Eds) Handbook on Crime. Cullompton. Willan.
Sutton,
M. (2007) IMPROVING NATIONAL CRIME SURVEYS:
WITH
A FOCUS UPON STRANGELY NEGLECTED OFFENDERS AND THEIR OFFENCES, INCLUDING
FRAUDS, HI-TECH CRIMES AND HANDLING STOLEN GOODS. In Michael G.Maxfield and
Michael Hough (eds) Surveying Crime in the 21st Century.
Cullompton. Willan.
Sutton, M. (2005) Complicity,
trading dynamics and prevalence in stolen goods markets. In Tilley, N. (ed) Handbook of Crime Prevention and
Community Safety. Cullompton. Willan.
Sutton M. (2004) The Market
Reduction Approach is Route Level Situational Crime Prevention) In Hopkins
Burke, R. (Ed) Hard Cop, Soft Cop:
Debates and Dilemmas in Contemporary Policing. Cullompton Willan.
Sutton, M. and Griffiths, M. (2003) E-Mails with Unintended
Consequences. In P. Hills (Ed) Aspects
of Human Communication (Vol. 1) Peter Francis Publishers.
Sutton, M. (2003) Theft, Stolen
Goods and the Market Reduction Approach. In Shapland, J; Albrecht, Hons-Jorg;
Ditton, J. and Godefroy, T. (eds) The
Informal Economy: Threat and Opportunity in
the City. Max-Planck Institute, Freiburg i. Br.
Sutton, M. and Schneider, J.L. (1999) 'Theft, Stolen Goods
and the Market Reduction Approach: Operation Radium and Operation Heat.'
In Allan, T. and C. Sole Brito (1999) Problem Oriented Policing: Crime Specific
Problems, Critical Issues and Making POP Work. Washington, D.C.
Police Executive Research Forum.
Other publications
Sutton, M.
(2012) Fencing /Receiving Stolen Goods.
Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. New York. Springer.
Sutton, M (2010) Product Design: Concealable, Removable, Available, Valuable, Enjoyable
and Disposable (CRAVED), and Value, Inertia, Visibility and Access (VIVA).
Encyclopedia of Victimology and Crime Prevention. Thousand Oakes. Sage.
Sutton, M (2010) The Safer Cities Programme. Encyclopedia of Victimology and Crime
Prevention. Thousand Oakes. Sage
Sutton, M. (2003) How Burglars and Shoplifters Sell Stolen
Goods in Derby:
Describing and Understanding the Local Illicit Markets. A Dynamics of Offending
Report for Derby
Community Safety Partnership. Internet Journal of Criminology. Primary research paper.
Sutton, M. (2002) Fencing.
Encyclopaedia of Crime and Punishment. Thousand Oakes. Sage.
Schneider, J.L. and Sutton, M. (1999) Keystroke Crime: Telling IT like IT is and the need for an Internet criminal
activity survey. FOCUS on police research and
development, Issue 11, Summer. London: Home Office.
Sutton, M. (1998) Too
Hot to Handle: the market reduction approach aims to turn up the heat on stolen
goods. FOCUS on police research and development. Issue 10, May. Home Office. London.
PRESENTATIONS
(A selection of some of my many presentations on my research)
2016 James Hutton Institute Lecture on
100 Per Cent Proof of Darwin's Lying Plagiarising Glory Thieving Science
Fraud. Scotland. 17th March
Here
2014 A DREADFUL DISCOVERY: BIG DATA
PROVES WALLACE AND DARWIN COUNTERFEIT DISCOVERERSI. Conway Hall Sunday
Lecture. Ethical Society. London. July 27th. Note: this lecture is now
published in the Ethical Record.
Here.
2014 Internet Dating with Darwin. Edinburgh
International Science Festival. Edinburgh Skeptics Society. April 10th.
2014 Hi-Tech Detection of Charles
Darwin’s and Alfred Wallace’s Great Science Fraud. British Society of
Criminology Conference. Liverpool University. July 10
th. The expert,
anonymously peer reviewed paper
Here
2012 Sutton, M. Hamilton, P. and
Trickett, L. Disability Harassment and Hostility in Nottinghamshire: The
Importance of an Offender’s Perspective. Hate Crime Symposium April 26th.
Cardiff. Cardiff University.
2011 Sutton,
M. Tackling Burglary with the Market Reduction Approach to Stolen Goods.
Association of Chef Police Officers. Burglary Group. National Meeting. Nottingham. September 7th.
2011 Sutton, M, Hamilton, P., Long, M. and Hodgson, P. The
Problem of Zombie Cops in Voodoo Criminology. National Deviancy Conference York. July/Aug.
2009 Sutton, M. and Tseloni, M. Where is the Full Fat Fear of Crime: Has
25 Years of Homogenised Data Misled Criminologists and Policy Makers? ESDS
Government Crime Survey Users Meeting. University of Manchester. Monday 7 December
2009.
2009 Sutton,
M. Who Buys Stolen Goods? Paper presented at ESDS Government Research
Conference: Crime Safety and Community. British Academy.
Wednesday 18th November.
2009
Sutton, M. Selling Stolen Goods is a Recession
Proof Industry. 37th Annual Conference of the European Group for
the Study of Deviance and Social Control. University of Central
Lancashire. Thursday 27th August.
2009
Sutton, M. What Works, What Does Not Work
and What Constitutes Quackery in the use of Media to Reduce Racism? Can
Media Reduce Racial Prejudice? Glasgow Anti-Racist
Alliance
Conference (GARA). Glasgow
23 June 2009.
2008 Sutton, M. Finding a Good Way Forwards: Key Lessons from the
review of media use to reduce race and ethnic prejudice. Glasgow Anti-Racist Alliance Seminar (GARA). Glasgow, April 11:
‘Changing Beliefs or Changing Nothing: The Role of Media Campaigns in Reducing
Racial Prejudice.’
2007 Sutton, M. Stealing to Order and
Stealing to Offer. European Society of Criminology Conference. Bologna.
2007 Sutton, M. and Perry, B.
Politicking the Personal: Examining Academic Literature and British National
Party beliefs and wishes about intimate interracial relationships and mixed
heritage. Paper presented at the International Conference, Law and Society
in the 21st Century. Berlin 2007.
2007 Sutton,
M. Tackling theft with the Market Reduction Approach. Association of
Chief Police Officers (ACPO). Special meeting on burglary and other theft
reduction. Cheshire
Police HQ.
2006 Sutton, M. Conference to Mark 25 years
of the British Crime Survey. Windsor.
Surveying Fraud and Hi-tech Crimes.
2006 Sutton, M. Policing
Transnational Crimes Conference. London:
High Tech Crime, Crimemongers: Crooked
Businesses on the Internet
2006 Sutton, M. Second
International Cultural Criminology
Conference, London:
Crime Mongers: Crooked Businesses in Bent Society
2005 Sutton, M and Parke, J. European Society of Criminology
Conference, Krakow, Poland. Identifying good practice in the use of the media to reduce racial
prejudice.
2005 Sutton, M. Third Nottingham International
Hate Crimes Conference. Nottingham England. Reviewing the literature on use of the media to reduce ethnic and
racial prejudice.
2005 Sutton, M. Second International Conference On Hate
Crimes: Preventing Hate Violence. Northeastern University. Boston
USA. A
New Research Agenda
2004 Sutton, M. and Perry, B. American
Society of Criminology Conference, Nashville.
Researching the use of the media to
reduce ethnic and racial prejudice.
2003 Sutton, M. Thirteenth World Criminology Congress, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Finding The Far Right Online.
2003 Sutton, M. Thirteenth World Criminology Congress, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
A study of vandalism in a 3D Internet
community: important lessons for what
works in online community safety.
2003 Sutton, M. British Society of Criminology regional meeting, Cardiff University. Presentation
on Racist and Racialist Newsgroups and Websites.
2003 Sutton, M. The SOLON and Nottingham Centre for the Study and Reduction of
Hate Crimes first International Hate Crimes Conference. Nottingham.
“Finding the Far Right Online”
2001 Sutton, M. The Hague, Netherlands, Europol HQ. International workshop: Development of tools to support prevention of organised crime in
practice.
2000
Sutton,
M. The Hague, Netherlands,
Europol HQ. Falcone funded workshop for
law enforcement practitioners: Identifying
and Disseminating Good Practice in Organised Crime Reduction.
2000 Sutton, M. Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge. Diploma in Criminology, part of Strategic
Command Course for officers of ACPO rank.
Policing Stolen Goods Markets.
1999 Sutton, M. Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge. Diploma in Criminology, part of Strategic
Command Course for officers of ACPO rank.
Internet Crime.
1999 Sutton, M. British Society of Criminology regional meeting, Cardiff University. Presentations
on Internet crime and stolen goods markets.
1998 Sutton, M. San Diego, California USA. Problem Oriented Policing Conference, keynote speaker. ‘The Market Reduction Approach to Stolen
Goods.’ Police Executive Research Forum.
November.
1998 Sutton, M. Washington, D.C.,
USA. American Society of Criminology annual
conference. ‘The Market Reduction Approach to Stolen Goods.’
1998 Sutton, M. Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Heartland Symposium: Emerging Trends in
Criminal Justice for the Year 2000 and Beyond.
Keynote Speaker. NetCrime, and
the Market Reduction Approach.
1998 Sutton, M. Freiburg, Germany. Max Plank Institute. European funded conference on informal
economy. The Structure and Organisation of Stolen Goods Markets.
1997 Sutton, M. San Diego, California, USA. American Society of Criminology annual
conference. ‘>>NetCrime: More Change in the Organisation of Thieving.’
1996 Sutton, M. Presentation to the Royal Society.
Implementing Crime Prevention Schemes in a Multi-Agency Setting:
aspects of process in the Safer Cities Programme
1994 Sutton, M. Miami,
Florida, USA. American Society of
Criminology annual conference. Who buys stolen goods: findings from the
1994 British Crime Survey.
1994 Sutton, M. British Society of Criminology conference, Loughborough. Supply
by Theft: does the market for second-hand goods play a role in keeping crime
figures high?
1990 Sutton, M. British Society of Criminology Conference, York. Unit fines: experiments in four courts.
Honours and Awards
2000 Cardiff University,
Honorary Research Fellow
1999 British
Journal of Criminology Annual Prize. With David Mann. For academic year
1998/99. Award for ‘>>NetCrime:
More Change in the Organisation of Thieving.’ For the best article published during the last year which, in the
opinion of the British Journal of Criminology Editorial Board most significantly
contributed to the knowledge and understanding of criminology and criminal
justice issues.
1998 Hudson
Institute, (Independent public policy not for profit think tank) Indianapolis and Chicago,
USA. Honorary Research Fellow
Grants and Contracts
2002
£35,000 For PhD Bursary
Student (Edward Pollock). Nottingham Trent University UK Bursary award
2002 £10,000
Nottingham Trent University Strategic Development Grant to pump-prime initial
fund raising to establish Hate Crimes Centre of Excellence: Nottingham Centre for the Study and Reduction of Hate
Crimes, Bias and Prejudice .
2003 £5,000 Home Office (UK) national government contract
to design questions for the 2003 Crime and Justice Survey: fraud, hi-tech crime
and stolen goods components
2004 £10,000
Local government contract with Derby City Crime and Disorder Partnership (UK)
to conduct Market Reduction Research to tackle acquisitive offending
2005 £14,000
Local government contract with Mansfield Crime and Disorder Partnership (UK) to
conduct Market Reduction Research to tackle and reduce acquisitive offending
2005 £12,000
National (UK) government contract (with
Professor Mike Levi Cardiff University, UK) to analyse fraud, hi-tech crime and stolen goods components of (UK) Home
Office Crime and Justice Survey and write two government research reports
2005 £50,000+
ESRC (UK National Research Council) 4 year (1+3) PhD studentship awarded for
student (Paul Hamilton) to research street-level prostitution in Nottingham
(UK)
2005 £33,000
Home Office (UK) National government contract (With Professor Barbara Perry
University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada) to identify good
practice through evaluation of local, regional, national and international
media-based anti-racial discrimination initiatives.
2006 £42,000+
For PhD Bursary Student (Kassim Bin Noor Mohammed). Nottingham Trent
University, UK Bursary award to research the organisational dynamics of a
Malaysian criminal godfather and head of kidnapping gang.
2009 £50,000+ ESRC (UK National Research Council)
4 year (1+3) PhD studentship awarded for student For PhD Bursary (Jayne Noor Mohammed). E-fencing study:
selling stolen goods on the Internet
