Head injury link to violent crime

Head injuries can dramatically increase the chances of someone committing violent crime, a study has found.

In a group of 22,914 traumatic brain injury victims, almost 9 per cent went on to commit acts of violence after diagnosis – three times the rate in the general population.

The British and Swedish scientists who carried out the research defined violent criminals as those convicted of homicide, assault, robbery, arson, sexual offences, or illegal threats or intimidation. Epilepsy was also investigated as previous studies had suggested it can increase the risk of violence, but scientists found no significant association between it and violent crime.