An anonymous 18 year old speaks to City News about getting in trouble with police in his youth.
He told City News that having ADHD means “it’s harder to think before reacting”, but that it is not the only reason that made him get into troubling situations.
He said ADHD was not the only factor to blame for his criminal actions. “You definitely can control it. Everybody’s different though and it depends on many factors like your childhood, upbringing and all these different types of things.”
Being medicated for a period over his teenage years, he is currently not on medication for ADHD. However, he says he is currently on the right path, attending college for barbering, and has not been in trouble with authority for years.
He says it’s not just because of his condition, but that he was less mature in school. “It’s a choice you have to make to not get into situations on medication or not. It’s just a harder choice than the average person”.
Neurodivergent children are significantly over-represented in school exclusions and in youth criminality according to a report by EBD. (Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties).
Over 8 weeks in 2024, those arrested at metropolitan police centres were offered screening for both ADHD and autism.
The results showed that:
8% of arrested individuals had an existing diagnosis of ADHD
Which is higher than the diagnosis in the general population in London.
And an additional 1 in 2 people scored at or above the threshold for undiagnosed ADHD.
This research adds to the long list of studies conducted that points out a correlation between ADHD in individuals, and the number of those arrested as well as prison populations.
A report by ADHD Foundation said that ‘1 in 4 UK prisoners has ADHD’, showing that those with the condition are over-represented in the criminal justice system.
Why is there this correlation?
The issue is complex, according to Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) who says there are many factors that could contribute to offending behaviour for those with ADHD.
One of the possible reasons is that different ADHD presentations affect the way the condition appears in different people. Those with predominantly impulsive presentations shows the highest crime rates overall, according RCP.
Patients with ADHD often have additional deficits (including executive dysfunction and emotional dysregulation), ADHD founder told us that they conducted a large survey and found that zero people had solely ADHD.
Executive dysfunction is linked to processing of long-term consequences and decision making. Which, they say, “may explain the seeming thoughtlessness behind impulsive crime.”
While, another aspect is emotional regulation, which RCP says may also play a part in violent behaviour, “it does not indicate an absence of morals.” Stating that violence associated with these issues tends to be reactive, not spontaneous.
“School detentions are becoming an ‘apprenticeship scheme’ into criminality’”
Henry Shelford ADHD UK
Henry Shelford tells us that education becomes a driving factor for this correlation. By looking at the statistics on face-value, he says he “worries that people will make a connection” between ADHD itself and crime.
RCP says its “unsurprising that many children with the condition struggle in school”, since a natural part of ADHD is difficulty focusing.
The association between school suspension and offending behaviour, is another reason behind the statistics says RCP.
“There’s people who have been failed by education disproportionately who fall into crime, and people with ADHD are disproportionately failed by education. And so what I’m trying to do is blame that thing. And it’s rightful blaming”, says Henry.
He believes that strict regulations and detentions in schools, “might find that your rules are directly penalizing people with ADHD.”
This, he says, is part of a list of systemic problems. He continues, “The fact we don’t screen for ADHD, and the fact teachers don’t get trained in ADHD formally. The fact that trying to get medication is very hard. It causes massive problems, and one of the places you see that is people falling into crime.”
After being asked whether he has worked with people who were labelled as ‘bad’ rather than ‘struggling’, he said, on the whole yes. “But I’ve also done ADHD training in prisons and met murderers. And I mean, they were bad yeah”.
Access to Treatment and Support:
SOURCE: Pexels Rights: Polina Tankilevitch
ADHD UK shows that wait lists for diagnosis are generally two years but can take up to 7, says Henry.
To tackle the backlog in waiting times, the government introduced Integrated Care boards (ICBs) for most NHS services in 2022.
ADHD and autism assessments can be accessed by patients invoking their Right to Choose, meaning a GP will refer a patient to an ICB.
However, these wait lists can range from 6 weeks to up to 2 years, according to data from ADHD UK.
Dr James Holt, West Hertfordshire, tells City that he’s certainly seen an increase in people trying to get diagnosed with ADHD. Some programmes will make a diagnosis but not be able to give treatment which, he says, causes even more delays.
“Another issue is we see patients who have had a diagnosis privately who then come to NHS and ask for GPs to prescribe medications. Unfortunately, NHS GPs can’t and won’t prescribe under a shared care arrangement for ADHD medication if the diagnosis has been done privately.”
As of December 4th 2025, Health Secretary Wes Streeting launches an independent review into rising demand for mental health, ADHD and autism services.
This is the next step in the government’s 10 year plan to “look at this through a strictly critical lens to get an evidence-based understanding of what we know, what we don’t know and what these patterns tell us about or mental health system.
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HeadlineSo much more than ADHD. The uneasy relationship between crime and neurodiversity.
Short HeadlineThe uneasy relationship between crime and ADHD
StandfirstPeople with ADHD are over-represented in crime statistics, but why is this?
An anonymous 18 year old speaks to City News about getting in trouble with police in his youth.
He told City News that having ADHD means “it’s harder to think before reacting”, but that it is not the only reason that made him get into troubling situations.
He said ADHD was not the only factor to blame for his criminal actions. “You definitely can control it. Everybody’s different though and it depends on many factors like your childhood, upbringing and all these different types of things.”
Being medicated for a period over his teenage years, he is currently not on medication for ADHD. However, he says he is currently on the right path, attending college for barbering, and has not been in trouble with authority for years.
He says it’s not just because of his condition, but that he was less mature in school. “It’s a choice you have to make to not get into situations on medication or not. It’s just a harder choice than the average person”.
Neurodivergent children are significantly over-represented in school exclusions and in youth criminality according to a report by EBD. (Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties).
Over 8 weeks in 2024, those arrested at metropolitan police centres were offered screening for both ADHD and autism.
The results showed that:
8% of arrested individuals had an existing diagnosis of ADHD
Which is higher than the diagnosis in the general population in London.
And an additional 1 in 2 people scored at or above the threshold for undiagnosed ADHD.
This research adds to the long list of studies conducted that points out a correlation between ADHD in individuals, and the number of those arrested as well as prison populations.
A report by ADHD Foundation said that ‘1 in 4 UK prisoners has ADHD’, showing that those with the condition are over-represented in the criminal justice system.
Why is there this correlation?
The issue is complex, according to Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) who says there are many factors that could contribute to offending behaviour for those with ADHD.
One of the possible reasons is that different ADHD presentations affect the way the condition appears in different people. Those with predominantly impulsive presentations shows the highest crime rates overall, according RCP.
Patients with ADHD often have additional deficits (including executive dysfunction and emotional dysregulation), ADHD founder told us that they conducted a large survey and found that zero people had solely ADHD.
Executive dysfunction is linked to processing of long-term consequences and decision making. Which, they say, “may explain the seeming thoughtlessness behind impulsive crime.”
While, another aspect is emotional regulation, which RCP says may also play a part in violent behaviour, “it does not indicate an absence of morals.” Stating that violence associated with these issues tends to be reactive, not spontaneous.
“School detentions are becoming an ‘apprenticeship scheme’ into criminality’”
Henry Shelford ADHD UK
Henry Shelford tells us that education becomes a driving factor for this correlation. By looking at the statistics on face-value, he says he “worries that people will make a connection” between ADHD itself and crime.
RCP says its “unsurprising that many children with the condition struggle in school”, since a natural part of ADHD is difficulty focusing.
The association between school suspension and offending behaviour, is another reason behind the statistics says RCP.
“There’s people who have been failed by education disproportionately who fall into crime, and people with ADHD are disproportionately failed by education. And so what I’m trying to do is blame that thing. And it’s rightful blaming”, says Henry.
He believes that strict regulations and detentions in schools, “might find that your rules are directly penalizing people with ADHD.”
This, he says, is part of a list of systemic problems. He continues, “The fact we don’t screen for ADHD, and the fact teachers don’t get trained in ADHD formally. The fact that trying to get medication is very hard. It causes massive problems, and one of the places you see that is people falling into crime.”
After being asked whether he has worked with people who were labelled as ‘bad’ rather than ‘struggling’, he said, on the whole yes. “But I’ve also done ADHD training in prisons and met murderers. And I mean, they were bad yeah”.
Access to Treatment and Support:
SOURCE: Pexels Rights: Polina Tankilevitch
ADHD UK shows that wait lists for diagnosis are generally two years but can take up to 7, says Henry.
To tackle the backlog in waiting times, the government introduced Integrated Care boards (ICBs) for most NHS services in 2022.
ADHD and autism assessments can be accessed by patients invoking their Right to Choose, meaning a GP will refer a patient to an ICB.
However, these wait lists can range from 6 weeks to up to 2 years, according to data from ADHD UK.
Dr James Holt, West Hertfordshire, tells City that he’s certainly seen an increase in people trying to get diagnosed with ADHD. Some programmes will make a diagnosis but not be able to give treatment which, he says, causes even more delays.
“Another issue is we see patients who have had a diagnosis privately who then come to NHS and ask for GPs to prescribe medications. Unfortunately, NHS GPs can’t and won’t prescribe under a shared care arrangement for ADHD medication if the diagnosis has been done privately.”
As of December 4th 2025, Health Secretary Wes Streeting launches an independent review into rising demand for mental health, ADHD and autism services.
This is the next step in the government’s 10 year plan to “look at this through a strictly critical lens to get an evidence-based understanding of what we know, what we don’t know and what these patterns tell us about or mental health system.
