Dr Brian Payne is the Course Director for Criminology and Criminal Justice (FT) at Ulster University. Brian graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in June 2004 with a BSc in Psychology. Brian then stayed in Belfast to complete a Masters in Criminology (September 2006) and a PhD in Criminology (July 2012) both at the School of Law Queen’s University Belfast.

Dr Brian Payne’s primary research interests lie in the areas of restorative justice, transnational organised crime, community policing and probation. He has previously worked on a major research council project entitled “North-South Irish Responses to Transnational Organised Crime” and conducted research with community restorative justice projects in West Belfast and police agencies in England. Brian’s Doctoral research (completed July 2012) explored the construction of partnerships between a community-based restorative justice project and the police in Nationalist/Republican communities of West Belfast, Northern Ireland. The research was funded by a Department for Employment and Learning PhD Studentship under the supervision of Professor Shadd Maruna and Professor Kieran McEvoy (Queen’s University Belfast).