Xanthe Weston

Dr Xanthe Weston is Associate Professor of Domestic and Family Violence. Xanthe joined QCDFVR in February 2025, having moved from the University of Newcastle’s School of Law and Justice, where she worked since 2017. Xanthe’s PhD focused around improving methods of forensic facial analysis, and was partially funded by the FBI. She has worked with police forces in the UK and Australia, who have engaged her to provide expert opinion relating to alleged child sexual abuse, gait analysis, as well as the use of advanced DNA technologies.

Xanthe is passionate about communication and public engagement, and regularly makes expert comment on breaking news stories across matters involving criminology and forensic science, as well as contributing to podcasts and long-format investigative pieces. She has written three books, including one analysing cases where women have been found guilty of murdering their children (Mothers who Murder: And infamous miscarriages of justice). Her criminological research centres around understanding women’s place in the criminal justice space – as both victim and offender – and the nexus between those two states, which often intersect. It is this work she will expand upon in her current role.