After studying psychology and medicine at University of Nottingham, John Crichton completed core psychiatric training in Cambridge. He was appointed Nightingale scholar at Cambridge University’s Institute of Criminology, completing his PhD in 1997. During this time he was a research assistant on the Robinson Inquiry and completed the certificate in Forensic Psychotherapy from the Portman Clinic. He went on to hold full time clinical academic appointments at University of Cambridge (1997-8) and University of Edinburgh (1998-2000) and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has edited three books and over 60 peer review publication, recently specialising in homicide prevention.
Prof Crichton was one of the founding Consultants of the first Scottish medium secure mental health services in 2000 and latterly took the lead with female mentally disordered offenders in the clinic. He was the Clinical Director for Forensic Services in Edinburgh from 2009 to 2013 and in the past has also served as Medical Director of the State Hospital and Forensic Mental Health Managed Clinical Care Network.
He was the foundation National Training Programme Director for forensic psychiatry and is an Honorary Professor of the School of Law at University of Edinburgh. In 2009 he was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and in 2012 was appointed a member of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 2022. From 2013- 2017 he was elected Chair of the Royal College Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry in Scotland. From 2015 he has been an adviser to the International Committee of the Red Cross and undertaken work with them promoting mental healthcare in Chinese prisons and elsewhere. In 2017 John was elected Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland and in 2021 moved to became Treasurer of the College. In 2025 after 28 years at Royal Edinburgh Hospital and five years as a Trustee of the Royal College, Prof Crichton was appointed Medical Director of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland. In 2026 he was elected Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.