Simon joined Sussex in 2022 as a Senior Lecturer in Criminal Justice. He has previously held positions at the Universities of Westminster and Reading, and graduated with a PhD from the University of Vienna, Austria, in 2013.

He is currently Principle Investigator on a two-year Nuffield-funded study Improving outcomes for children/young people through multi-agency work (£250K), and the SLSA-funded Beyond Measure: Exploring the Rise in Drug Testing (£4K)

Simon has a multidisciplinary background, in law and sociology, and has expertise in qualitative methods and legal analyses. His research focuses on alcohol and other drugs, childhood/youth justice, parenting, health and gender. He has written on issues including: harm reduction and the law, youth justice, criminology, drug use/policy, and human rights. He draws on a range of theoretical approaches in hus work, including: Science and Technology Studies; feminist theory; posthumanism; and new materialisms. Simon is currently working on a new book that examines drug testing
 
He  was a Finalist for the Social & Legal Studies Editors' Choice Award for 2024 for his paper Who is the Addict-Offender? A Historical Ontology

Simon has worked with a variety of organisations, including Release, Stopwatch and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and is a trustee for the Oasis Project. He was formerly trustee for the Socio-Legal Studies Association and North Kensington Law Centre. He has contributed to the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, the London Drug Commission, and the Criminal Law Reform Now Network,

Simon supervises both UG and PG dissertations, and is happy to supervise PhD theses on the subjects of drugs, addiction, sexuality, crime/criminology and family law.
 
He is Deputy Director of the Centre for Research and Innovation in Childhood and Youth at Sussex