How to spot a liar – by former cop Darren
EXPERT NOW HAS CAREER AS HIGH-PROFILE MEDIA PUNDIT
DARREN Stanton has worked for more than a decade as a body language and behavioural expert examining serial killers, sports stars and the Royal Family.
In recent years he’s looked at the relationship between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and the royal family, and in the last couple of weeks he has examined how FC Barcelona’s president dealt with Lionel Messi’s shock departure from the club.
A former policeman, Darren now works with the media and other organisations to examine high-profile individuals.
The Post spoke to the 48-year-old from Carlton – dubbed “the human lie detector” – about how he spots a liar.
Darren – who worked at Nottinghamshire Police for 18 years – said: “I studied psychology at university because I always loved people. There used to be a show called Cracker with Robbie Coltrane where he worked as a criminal psychologist and it looked like a fantastic job.
“I spent some time at HMP Nottingham but I realised quite quickly that it wasn’t for me, so I ended up becoming a police officer.
“I still continued to develop as a psychologist while working with the police. I was dealing with criminals on a daily basis and you develop a kind of sixth sense in terms of looking at other people’s behaviour.
“A lot of that isn’t admissible with the police but it has led into what I’ve been doing since leaving the force in 2010.
“You start to notice people’s tells, like in poker I guess.
“I noticed there’s a big appetite for wanting to know what the royal family and Harry and Meghan really think. You see with Meghan that she is the dominant person in the relationship through a lot of her gestures.
“Harry has this self-reassurance gesture like Prince Charles where they put their hand in their jacket – almost like a self-hug.
“There’s also a real thirst for the crime stuff.”
Since leaving the force, Darren has appeared on The One Show, This Morning and Judge Rinder’s Crime Stories. He has also worked with the media to look at public figures including Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
He has also covered events like election debates and select committees, such as the recent testimony from Dominic Cummings.
Tomorrow night, at Antenna Nottingham on Beck Street, Darren will be performing a live event called Serial Killers, Murderers And Suspects at which he will examine the body language and psychology of some of the world’s most famous criminals.
He will also be sharing some of the tips and tricks of his job regarding how you can spot a liar.
#Darren added: “There’s a myth that liars can’t look you in the eye and lie, but what they are doing is compensating with eye contact. Normal eye contact is three to five seconds long. Beyond that without blinking looks odd.
“You generally only look for a prolonged period of time at someone’s eyes if you are in a romantic situation or if it’s someone you are familiar with.
“People’s lips go very pale when they lie too. That’s to do with adrenaline and is very revealing.
“At the talk, we will look at serial killers like Ian Huntley and the Philpott case, which locals will know.
“There are seven expressions humans can deliver which are happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust and contempt. They are microexpressions and I’ll be speaking to people about how they can spot these, regardless of what someone is saying to them.”
Tickets for the show are £25 and can be bought from eventbrite.co.uk/e/anevening-of-serial-killers-and-murderers-tickets-164819001069.
The event begins at 7pm and finishes at 9.30pm.