Half of people recently arrested by Met police may have undiagnosed ADHD, study finds
Half of people arrested recently in London were found to potentially have undiagnosed ADHD, according to a study calling for better neurodivergence screening for vulnerable individuals.Research by the University of Cambridge found that one in two individuals arrested and detained over an eight-week period in London in 2024 may have undiagnosed attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and one in 20 may have undiagnosed autism.The team worked with the Metropolitan police to explore the idea of offering informal screening for neurodivergence to people detained by the police, which they said could improve access to support and help them receive fairer treatment in the criminal justice system.Prof Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, the director of the Autism Research Centre (ARC) at Cambridge, who was involved in the research, said: “Screening for possible neurodivergence will allow more informed legal decision-making, taking into account cognitive and communicative differences.It can also help ensure defendants get access to legal protection and appropriate counsel.
“This could improve both the treatment and experiences of neurodivergent people in the criminal justice system and ultimately lead to fairer outcomes, including protection under the law, which is a basic human right.”Research has consistently found that neurodivergent individuals – particularly autistic people and those with ADHD – are overrepresented in prisons.There is also growing evidence of undiagnosed ADHD and autism among people in contact with the criminal justice system, although estimates of prevalence vary.Several studies have also reported that ADHD medication can help some people with ADHD improve their impulse control, lowering their risk of criminal behaviour.Dr Tanya Procyshyn, a research associate at ARC, and Dion Brown, a senior detective from the Metropolitan police, co-led the study, published in Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, to investigate whether the police should introduce screening for ADHD and autism.
Dr Procyshyn said this could help “avoid unnecessary criminalisation of misunderstood behaviour”.Brown added: “Early identification helps officers interpret behaviours that might otherwise be misunderstood and ensures appropriate support is provided.This approach creates opportunities to divert vulnerable individuals away from the criminal justice process and towards the help they may need.”The study took place at six London Metropolitan police custody centres, where people who had been detained were offered voluntary screening for ADHD and autism carried out on-site by a healthcare professional, detention officer or arresting police officer.ADHD traits were assessed using a modified version of the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale and autistic traits were assessed using the 10-item Autism-Spectrum Quotient.
Although these tools do not provide a diagnosis, they can flag people who would benefit from further assessment.Most of the 303 eligible individuals arrested (71%) consented to screening.Individuals who screened above the thresholds for ADHD or autistic traits were informed and given additional information on how to seek a formal diagnosis.Eight per cent of arrested individuals had an existing diagnosis of ADHD, which is slightly higher than the prevalence of ADHD in the general population (5%).However, an additional one in two people (50%) without an ADHD diagnosis scored above the threshold for possible undiagnosed ADHD, including 33 individuals (17%) whose scores suggested a very high number of ADHD traits.
Nine individuals (4.2%) had an existing autism diagnosis, higher than the prevalence of autism in the general adult population (3%).An additional 5.4% scored above the threshold for possible undiagnosed autism.Six in 10 individuals (60%) arrested for drug offences had an existing diagnosis or positive screening result for ADHD, possibly reflecting findings from previous studies that some neurodivergent individuals may self-medicate with illegal substances.
Fed cuts interest rates by a quarter point amid apparent split over US economy
The US Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it was cutting interest rates by a quarter point for the third time this year, as the embattled central bank appeared split over how best to manage the US economy.The Fed chair, Jerome Powell, has emphasized unity within the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the board of Fed leaders that sets interest rates. But the nine-to-three vote to lower rates to a range of 3.5% to 3.75% was divisive among the committee that tends to vote in unanimity
Leon to cut jobs and close fast food restaurants
Fast food chain Leon is planning to close restaurants and cut jobs, less than two months after it was bought back from Asda by its co-founder John Vincent.The chain said on Wednesday that it had appointed administrators to lead a restructuring programme, and it was considering how many of its 54 restaurants would need to shut. It did not say how many roles could be affected.Vincent, who founded Leon in 2004 with Henry Dimbleby, who later became a government food tsar, and chef Allegra McEvedy, bought the business back in October, four years after he sold it to the billionaire Issa brothers’ EG Group petrol forecourts business in a £100m deal.The chain has now hired advisers from Quantuma after applying for an administration order, and aims to put the business into administration as soon as possible, a process which will help it to manage debt payments as it attempts to secure its long-term future
Musk calls Doge only ‘somewhat successful’ and says he would not do it again
Elon Musk has said the aggressive federal job-cutting program he headed early in Donald Trump’s second term, known as the “department of government efficiency” (Doge), was only “a little bit successful” and he would not lead the project again.Musk said he wouldn’t want to repeat the exercise, talking on the podcast hosted by Katie Miller, a rightwing personality with a rising profile who was a Doge adviser and who is married to Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s hardline anti-immigration deputy chief of staff.Asked whether Doge had achieved what he’d hoped, Musk said: “We were a little bit successful. We were somewhat successful.”Doge created chaos and distress in the government machine in Washington DC, and by May more than 200,000 federal workers had been laid off and roughly 75,000 had accepted buyouts as a result of purges by Musk’s external team of often-young zealots
ICE is using smartwatches to track pregnant women, even during labor: ‘She was so afraid they would take her baby’
Pregnant immigrants in ICE monitoring programs are avoiding care, fearing detention during labour and deliveryIn early September, a woman, nine months pregnant, walked into the emergency obstetrics unit of a Colorado hospital. Though the labor and delivery staff caring for her expected her to have a smooth delivery, her case presented complications almost immediately.The woman, who was born in central Asia, checked into the hospital with a smart watch on her wrist, said two hospital workers who cared for her during her labor, and whom the Guardian is not identifying to avoid exposing their hospital or patients to retaliation.The device was not an ordinary smart watch made by Apple or Samsung, but a special type that US Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) had mandated the woman wear at all times, allowing the agency to track her. The device was beeping when she entered the hospital, indicating she needed to charge it, and she worried that if the battery died, ICE agents would think she was trying to disappear, the hospital workers recalled
‘Dadgummit, let’s freaking go’: 44-year-old grandfather Rivers could start for Colts
The Indianapolis Colts have not ruled out starting Philip Rivers at quarterback after luring the grandfather out of retirement amid an injury crisis.The Colts lost starter Daniel Jones for the season after he tore his achilles on Sunday, while their first-round pick in 2023, Anthony Richardson, is out with a broken orbital bone he suffered in October. With backup Riley Leonard dealing with a knee injury, the Colts turned to the 44-year-old Rivers, who retired at the end of the 2020 season. Rivers, who has been a high school coach since his retirement and recently welcomed his first grandchild, played for the Colts in his final season after a long stint with the Chargers.Colts head coach Shane Steichen is close friends with Rivers and approached him about returning to the NFL
NHL warns top players will not show up for Winter Olympics if venue is unsafe
The NHL says it is “disappointing” that the main ice hockey venue for the Winter Olympics will not be ready until the new year – and warned that its top players will not show up unless the ice is shown to be safe.The men’s and women’s tournaments are expected to be among the highlights of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games with the NHL stars showing up for the first time since 2014.However, the buildup continues to be marred by construction delays and questions over why the rink at the Santagiulia Arena in Milan is smaller and wider than in the NHL, as well as concerns over the quality of the ice. And while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) insisted on Tuesday that everything would be ready on time, the NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, made it clear he was not entirely happy.“The fact that the building at this point still isn’t completed is – and I won’t use any other adjectives – disappointing,” Bettman said
Trump clears way for Nvidia to sell powerful AI chips to China
AI researchers are to blame for serving up slop | Letter
EU opens investigation into Google’s use of online content for AI models
Australia launches a social media ban – and is AI a bubble about to pop?
‘I feel it’s a friend’: quarter of teenagers turn to AI chatbots for mental health support
Social media use damages children’s ability to focus, say researchers