‘Experiences of ex-service personnel before contact with the criminal justice system’, published in February 2026, is the supplementary report to ‘Ex-service personnel in the criminal justice system’, published in March 2024. Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) commissioned Nacro, in partnership with the University Of Northampton (UoN), to carry out this research.
- Main report: We conducted research into the barriers to identification and uptake of support for ex-service personnel and their families in the criminal justice systems of England, Wales, and Scotland. Our findings, published in March 2024, explored the strengths and weaknesses of the current identification processes across England, Wales and Scotland, and identified barriers to uptake of support available to ex-armed service personnel in the criminal justice system.
- Supplementary report: During the course of this research, ex-service personnel told us about their lives and experiences before they came into contact with the criminal justice system (CJS). These findings have been analysed and presented in a supplementary report, “Experiences of ex-service personnel before contact with the criminal justice system”, published in 2026.
This report explores ex-service personnel’s childhood experiences, motivations to join the Armed Forces, experiences during their service in the Armed Forces, and their experiences after leaving the Armed Forces prior to contact with the CJS. Furthermore, it identifies key factors such as regret at leaving the Armed Forces, sense of loss and underlying mental health needs, which could help understand the complex needs of ex-service personnel in the CJS. The report also illustrates the role that alcohol and substance misuse can play in the issues experienced by some ex-service personnel. It should be noted that the sample included individuals whose experiences in the Armed Forces were a significant time ago prior to their contact with the CJS. This report is meant to complement the main report from this research which investigated the identification of ex-service personnel within the CJS and the barriers to support they experience, which can be found here.