Brain scans that test individual pain experience could be used to spot benefit cheats within 10 years.

And imaging and other aspects of neuroscience could also be used in future to assess the public risk posed by convicted criminals, a report said.

But the Royal Society said any question of using brain test results as evidence in court should be approached with great caution.

Brain Waves Module 4: Neuroscience and the Law was written by a group of experts in neuroscience, law, psychology, and ethics.

It finds that brain scans cannot identify would-be murderers, and there is no gene that will inevitably turn a person into a violent psychopath.

However, the report does accept that neuro-imaging and genetics may one day contribute to risk assessments in sentencing and probation decisions.