The criminologist Nigel Walker, who has died aged 97, was a key figure in the development of the discipline in Britain. As reader at Oxford University (1961-73), he researched the treatment of mentally disordered offenders. As professor at Cambridge University (1973-84) and director of its Institute of Criminology for most of that time, he led the institute through a key transitional period, and turned his attention to the theory and practice of sentencing.
Walker came to criminology in his mid-40s, from a civil service background. His flair for clear exposition quickly established him as an effective teacher, and his early student textbook, Crime and Punishment in Britain (1965), became a standard work. Then in 1968 he published volume one of Crime and Insanity in England (1968), in which he examined how the law in England had dealt with offenders with mental disorders from Saxon times onwards. Still the definitive work in its field, this brought him a DLitt degree. It was written while he was awaiting the results of a follow-up study of 1,200 offenders committed to hospital by the courts under the Mental Health Act 1959; this was published as volume two of Crime and Insanity in England (1973), co-authored with Sarah McCabe.
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