Kay Linnell and Tony Saggers awarded Honorary Fellowship of the EWI

The Expert Witness Institute has awarded Kay Linnell and Tony Saggers with Honorary Fellowship of the EWI.

Honorary Fellowship is the highest recognition that EWI can give to a person of eminence who has rendered exceptional services to the expert witness community.

It can sometimes be awarded to members of the community as a reflection of the respect and regard of their colleagues for a particularly important contribution over a long period of time.

Kay Linnell

Kay served on the Board from March 2005 to October 2022. She served as Company secretary from 2006 to 2014 and then again from 2017 to 2021.  She became Treasurer in 2014, a role she continued in until she stepped down from the Board.

In her time on the Board, kay was instrumental in developing some of EWI’s key programmes. Of particular note is her work on the development of Certification working with the UCL Judicial Institute to create a programme which validates the practice of Expert Witnesses through demonstration of their knowledge and skills in real life situations. This work has been fundamental to the development of the Institute and much of the revised member journey and the core competencies framework has been driven by that original work on Certification led by Kay.

She was also instrumental in raising the Institute’s profile in Europe through her work with the European Expert and Expertise Institute; ensuring that the United Kingdom had a voice in the development of Expert Evidence in Europe and latterly sharing UK practices with the rest of Europe.

In her 8 years as Treasurer, Kay provided strong strategic financial management and oversight; contributing her wealth of knowledge and experience to the further development of the Institute.

She provided stability for the organisation during a significant period of change due to a couple of changes in CEO between 2017 and 2019 going above and beyond the usual requirements of a Treasurer.

This is all on top of her vast experience as an expert witness and her contribution to the development and mentoring of expert witnesses as evidenced both through her work on Certification and in Europe, and the training that she has delivered on behalf of the Institute.  

Tony Saggers

Tony is the former head of Expert Evidence for Organised Crime for the National Crime Agency (NCA).

His career as a Law Enforcement Expert Witness, spanned many years from 1995, where he was the primary expert witness for his home police force, through to 2023, where he still provides opinion evidence as an independent expert, as well as an expert witness trainer both in the UK and wider afield.

In 2003, Tony initiated the Expert Evidence department in the National Crime Squad and remained the coordinator until 2006 when he became a member of the newly formed Serious & Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) where he continued management responsibility for a team of 28 expert witnesses, as well as delivering opinion evidence in a multitude of complex cases involving serious and organised crime. His position as a leading expert witness in his field was much sought after.

In 2005, he was a member of the CPS lead review (post child death expert witness controversies) which led to the publishing of the national guidance document concerning expert evidence disclosure, and the most recent definition of an expert witness, for which he was directly responsible. This definition has been tested and endorsed within the Court of Appeal which has had a significant impact on the wider profession.

Through the design and implementation of the SOCA drug trafficking expert evidence course, Tony has delivered bespoke expert witness training across the UK and Ireland, as well as internationally.

In 2009, he was called to a meeting of experts by the United Nations, in Vienna, to conduct an ongoing review of the World Drug Report and its associated collection methodologies.

His reputation as a leader in his field is unsurpassed, and as one of the UK’s leading experts on organised crime and drug trafficking, he is in constant demand as a key note speaker at many conferences; again, both in the UK and internationally.

His training of expert witnesses in the UK, since his retirement from the NCA, is regarded as an exemplar of expert witness instruction and he continues to raise the profile of the expert witness role.

Chris Pamplin

At the ceremony, Chris Pamplin was also presented with his Hon Fellowship for outstanding service and development of resources supporting the Expert Witness community. Chris was unable to be with us when he was awarded Honorary Fellowship last year, so we were delighted he could join us on this occasion.