Company / individual name

Name
Gael Cochrane
Occupation
Drugs Information, Advice and Support

Address information

Company
Crew 2000 Scotland
Address 1
32-32a Cockburn Street
Address 2
Address 3
City
Edinburgh
Post code
EH1 1PB

Contact information

Work Phone
0131 220 3404
Mobile
Email
experts@crew2000.org.uk
Web
www.crew.scot

Expert profile

Summary
Crew has provided a continuous Expert Witness Service since 1997

The Crew team is well established in the Scottish courts system and can be relied upon for up to date expertise and credibility. Much of this expertise is gained through its outreach work, which maintains close connections to the communities using substances, through our drug counselling service, and through its Experts working across Scotland's Criminal Justice and drug recovery sectors.

Crew’s team of drug Expert Witnesses provides unbiased reports and testimony on drug issues such as current street prices, trends, prevalence, and methods of use.

The team can explain clearly to the court the quantities and paraphernalia involved in contemporary substance use from both a personal use and supply point of view.
The team also provides testimony regarding the cultivation of cannabis. It keeps up to date on newer psychoactive substances such as nitazenes, fentanyl, and other synthetic drugs now established in the supply chain in Scotland.

Crew has access to national and local information on the price of drugs and regularly carries out surveys of people who take a variety of substances.

Individual Experts:

Gael Cochrane
Gael has worked in various posts, including Educational Officer, Training and Outreach Worker, and Substance Misuse Development Worker, with various organisations within the Scottish justice system. She is currently working with Community Justice Scotland as the Development and Innovation Lead. She has supplied drug expert testimony for 14 years.

Alex Johnstone
Alex has a long career working on substance misuse within the Scottish justice system, academia, and social work. He has supplied drug expert testimony as part of the Crew team since 2013.

John Arthur
John is the Senior Associate with the team. He has been an Expert Witness in the Scottish courts for 22 years, worked for 30 years in substance use and addictions, and helped establish the Scottish Recovery Consortium to advance the recovery community in this country. He was a founding member of the Serenity Café and the Bothy Recovery Centre in Craigmillar and was the National Director of Crew 2000 for 10 years. John has collaborated on working groups across the EU and the UK with national and local governments on substance use issues. 
 

Specialist areas of work

Area
illegal drugs and prescription medicines
toxicology

Experience of

The following






Qualified to undertake alternative dispute resolution

Arbitration
No
Conciliation
No
Expert determination
Yes
Mediation
No
Adjudication
No

 





 

Types of work

Number of new instructions per year
number of new instructions per year = 35
Number of times giving evidence in the last three years
evidence given in last 3 years = 31
Number of reports in the last three years
reports given in last 3 years = 107

Trained

Single joint expert
No
Report writing
No
Giving evidence in court
No

Geographical areas of work

Regions Worked
Scotland

Additional languages spoken

Languages
Spanish

Professional qualifications and accredited experience

QualificationsQualification year
MSc Alcohol and Drug Studies 2 (Alexander Johnstone) 
MA Religious Studies (Gael Cochrane) 
MA (Hons) Sociology (Steve O'Rawe) 
MSc Alcohol and Drug Studies (Steve O'Rawe) 
PhD Scottish Drug Policy (Steve O'Rawe) 
PgC Teaching and Learning Higher Education (Steve O'Rawe) 

Membership of other professional bodies

OrganisationType of membership
FHEA Higher Education AcademyFellow (Steve O'Rawe)
FHEA Higher Education AcademyFellow (Alexander Johnstone)

Other offices offering expert services

Location

Experts in branch

Contact name
Sharon Adam