Victims` Voice - Northamptonshire Police

Transcription

Victims’ Voice
Report of the Northamptonshire
Victims’ Commissioner
September 2013
Victims’ Voice Report of the Northamptonshire Victims’ Commissioner
September 2013
Foreword
At any moment any one of us could
become either a victim of crime or a
witness or both. We are all dependent
upon a system which just has to
work. But sadly across this system
while victims and witnesses are the
very people who are most impacted
by crime they are all too often the
least involved.
If we were to build a new criminal
justice system in Northamptonshire,
shaped by what victims want, giving
them choices, giving them back
control, giving them a voice
throughout, focusing on supporting
them in overcoming their victimisation
and rebuilding their lives... what might
this look like?
It is a truth universally acknowledged:
people make the choice to offend.
Victims have no choice.
Victims’ Voice is the first step of
this journey.
On my first day in office as Police
and Crime Commissioner I took
the decision to establish the
Northamptonshire Victims’
Commission. I asked Angela Sarkis CBE
to be the independent chair for the
Commission, Victims’ Voice, bringing
her immense experience to the role
and passion to champion those who
are victimised by crime.
Adam Simmonds
Police and Crime Commissioner
for Northamptonshire
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September 2013
Much of my career has focussed on
supporting individuals and communities
affected by crime across the UK and
working towards better policy decisions
to create safe and healthy communities.
How we treat victims is key to reducing
the impact of crime and creating a
better society.
Introduction
It’s widely acknowledged that victims
and witnesses do not receive the respect
or quality of service they deserve from
the criminal justice system and find
their needs at the end of a long line of
other competing priorities. This can only
undermine public trust and sense of fair
play in our criminal justice system and we
welcome the current public consultation
launched by the Ministry of Justice seeking
views across England and Wales on how
they might improve the current Code of
Practice. Northants has already responded
to this consultation informed by evidence
drawn from Victims’ Voice.
PCC Adam Simmonds recognised the need
for change in the way Northants supports
victims and witnesses and pledged to do
something about it; by changing the focus
to address the problems of the criminal
justice system from the perspectives of
victims and witnesses, he is creating an
environment which genuinely places
victims at the centre of the system to
ensure they are the priority.
Victims’ Voice launched a major public
consultation across the county requesting
responses from individuals who had been
victims or witnesses of crime to share their
experiences and from support agencies
that have experience of working with
them. We received over 1,000 replies.
I cannot thank those who took part in this
consultation enough; without their honest
and detailed accounts of what happened
we would not have the insight into the
system from the service users’ perspective,
and without this we remain inwardfocused and process-driven.
This report is written in the ‘Victims’
Voice’; it records their descriptions of their
experiences of the crimes committed
against them, the services they received
and how they feel this could be improved
for the benefit of future victims. The
structure of the report reflects the diverse
victims who approached us, their own
unique stories and our recommendations
the need to develop responsive and
effective services. I would also like to thank
the dedicated team of people from the
Commission, completely committed to
this work for several months, engaging
and meeting victims directly and producing
this excellent report.
Our findings have identified a range of
recommendations some of which can
be quick remedies; others will require a
radical shift in perspective for agencies to
think about their services in a different way
and to genuinely commit to multi-agency
models of working; and others require
central government to hear directly from
victims and take action.
Angela Sarkis
Victims’ Commissioner
I was delighted to lead this groundbreaking
piece of work to hear the raw, emotional,
at times distressing and frustrating stories
of victims and witnesses from a range of
backgrounds and experiences.
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Contents
Stories from three victims 5
Aim of Victims’ Voice
9
Hearing from Victims and Witnesses
10
Impact
13
Anti-Social Behaviour
16
Domestic Violence
23
Sexual Offences
33
Hate Crime
39
Fairness and Diversity
45
Roads Victims
51
Young Victims
55
Service Experience
• Police
• Courts and Crown Prosecution Service
• Support Services 61
69
78
Restorative Practices
82
Working Together
86
Bringing it all Together
90
Just a Start for Engaging with Victims
92
Conclusion
93
Summary of Recommendations
95
Acknowledgements
100
September 2013
Cathy’s experience
CATHY TOLD US ABOUT THE ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR SHE HAD BEEN
EXPERIENCING;
“It’s just been constant, constant hassle
since the day they moved in. Loud music,
fighting, trying to arrange fights with
machetes in the car park. Vomiting out the
windows, throwing glass bottles out the
windows at the cars going past, at people’s
heads… And then I got more threats
made against me. [offender’s name] then
threatened to stab me. I had used condoms
put through my door. He spat in my face,
threatened to burn the house, the flat
down with the grandkids in it, that was the
last one. And it just makes you feel and I
think because I’m on my own, it makes you
feel like you’re just a target for them all
the time. I spoke to the housing officer so
many times, filled in diary sheets, nothing
at all was done, nothing.
It came to a head when he threatened to
stab me. A couple of months ago now he,
I just had enough and I thought I need to
get something done. And although no one
else’ll make a stand up there, someone’s
got to.
I was absolutely beside myself. And I
usually have my grandkids and it got to the
stage I didn’t, I wouldn’t have them staying
overnight.
It’s, not eating, not sleeping, every noise I
heard I was up, what is it? ‘Cause people
go and shout his name and I think no, not
again, please don’t be there.
[The housing officer] wouldn’t act on
it. And I kept saying, you need to do
something, you need to get this stopped,
and stated our hands are tied; we have to
go through certain procedures. I said but
you, on your tenancy thing, that your first
year’s probationary time. It’s supposed to
be three strikes and you’re out. Well, they
must’ve had about forty strikes against
them.
I told him he was about as much use as a
chocolate teapot.
’Cause I got told by the police if you see
where he is, you need to phone us and
we’ll come out and deal with it. But I did
phone ‘em a few times and they didn’t
act, so you feel like you’re being let down
there as well… But then when they realise
how serious he was, like the threats and
everything were, they then red flagged my
address.
One night and they were told not to come
to the flat in case (name of offender) saw
them coming to my flat. And I phoned
them at ten, at half past, and two officers
turned up at my door at quarter to one in
the morning. I said you’ve been told not
come here.
[The local councillor] said he would take
my case on and it’s really gone from there
that I’ve had the help and then I got the
community safety team involved from East
Northants Council, who have been really
good, I can’t fault them. And to try and get
me moved, but yeah it’s okay getting me
moved, but it doesn’t solve the problem for
the people that are still living there.
I can’t fault them since that happened.
And then there was a big meeting with
the community safety team, my housing
officer, local councillor and the police,
all got together and said we need to do
something. They sent the fire service round
to check all the security, ‘cause I was afraid
of any, something coming through the
letterbox.
They said that once I was moved would
I be willing to appear in court against
him and I said yes, that’s fine. But I’m not
gonna do statements while I’m still living
there…He’ll find, he’ll know it’s me. If they
take him to court and I’m still living there;
God I don’t know what the consequences
will be, but once I’ve moved I’m quite
willing to stand up against him.
I’m happy that I’m moving. But I feel sorry
for the other people that are left there.”
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Stories from three victims
Jill’s experience
GILL’S SON DARREN WAS MURDERED
AFTER BEING STABBED 12 TIMES BY
SOMEONE CLOSE TO THE FAMILY.
“We were told he [CPS prosecutor] was a
top notch barrister. We had one meeting
with him on the first day, before they
actually started proceedings, and he told
us he would meet us every night so if there
was anything that we wanted to discuss
with him, if there was anything that we
thought that ought to be put forward to
the court, if there was any questions that
we wanted to ask about the process, we
could do it. He never did it at all…in fact we
barely saw him.
The first day, we had to sit and listen to
the pathologist’s report, and we weren’t
prepared for that really either. I know I’m
an intelligent woman, and I could explain
to my daughter and the grandson along
with his mum, what we were likely to hear,
but there’s a lot of people that aren’t as
intelligent or as eloquent or know what
that all is about for them. We should have
been told in a little more depth what was
likely to happen, what we might hear and
that this might be quite stressful.
Then to be told oh no, you go home now,
come back in another 10 days. And that
was awful, absolutely awful. Because the
whole thing about it was that you’re there,
you’re dealing with it and it’s so surreal.
You’re not, it’s like being in a bubble, it’s
like being encapsulated in this bubble
where everything’s going around about
you but it’s not really real, and is this
Darren they’re talking about, is this my son,
is this who was my baby, my little boy, my,
my grown man? No and it’s just so clinical
that it is very, very surreal for anybody to
have to go through that. And then to come
back, to go through the process again, to
have to listen to the pathologist’s report
again.
[My] liaison officer and the DCI was
brilliant. They sat with us all the time
that we were in and out of court, that we
needed them. But it still wasn’t, it wasn’t
quite the same as having somebody just
take you into a room and say look this is
really what’s gonna happen.
The defence barrister had the original
photos in a big lever arch file. And what
he did with them was he put them on top
of a pile of books, just nice enough for the
folder to fall open and down, so that where
we sat in the public gallery, we could see
the actual photos of Darren, which was
absolutely devastating for us. It was awful.
And that should never have been allowed
to happen, and I had to, I got the attention
of the Detective Chief Inspector on that
one. And got him to get the usher to go
and tell him to remove the book or put it
flat on the, just the, the lack of sensitivity
and the lack of thought that went, you
know, that was going on.
“And the other thing that happened whilst
we’re in court, the knife that killed my son,
it came about this far away from me. And,
held up in a plastic tube. Why did that need
to be held up and paraded round the court,
by one of the ushers or a solicitor’s help, a
solicitor or whatever. Just feet in front of
the public gallery where we sat. And that
was, I mean I had to go out at that point,
cause of this huge knife. And he’d stabbed
him with such force that he’d broken
the handle of the knife off, so I mean he
wanted to kill him… Why couldn’t they just
walk along with it down, and then when
they got there just pass it over, so that
we didn’t see it? It was like, you know, we
know it was an exhibit, but don’t exhibit
it to the, the people that are sitting, his
family that are sitting in the gallery.
We were told at one point that [the
defendant] was not going to give evidence,
and then we came back from lunch and,
got in the courtroom and he’s in the
witness box. So we hadn’t been prepared
for that either.
September 2013
And then I’m sitting there listening to
Darren’s previous [history] being discussed
in open court. Why, why didn’t anybody
tell us that that was likely to happen? And
why did he not have any human rights?
He didn’t have any human rights because
the poor fella was dead! But this chap
that’s sitting in the witness box, who’s, who
we’re trying for murder, he gets the human
rights. Oh no you can’t say anything about
that because it might cloud the vision of
the jury.
We were then sitting and listening to
[Darren’s] private therapy sessions and
things that had been picked out of his
therapy sessions. We weren’t prepared for
that at all… But there was stuff in there
that was being said and I thought this is
just awful. And I’d got my daughter in tears
one side and his son the other, just filling
up because they felt so helpless, because
they, they didn’t know these things.
And then to find out that the court
hadn’t apparently given my details to
the probation, that is supposed to liaise
with you when, they getting day releases,
somehow or other my details were not
given in. And a woman that I spoke to
there, she said we just sort of assumed
that you must be deceased or something,
because there was only the contact details
for his father. And so I didn’t know for
two months until his father told me, that
he was already coming out and being
rehabilitated into society.
Nothing is going to make this any different.
Darren’s dead and he’s gone and we just
have to have nice thoughts and stuff about
him. But the anger and the frustration
about the system and knowing that all
these other people have got to go through
the same as we did, that’s what hurts the
most.
Because you’re just the public sitting in the
gallery. You become faceless people. Well
nameless people. You’re just faces that
are sitting there. Somebody to make sure
that the people in the public gallery were
adult enough to be there and somebody
should have, an usher or something should
have been, stood in there I think, so that
anybody that had got their phone out,
they could have been taking photos, they
could have, they were texting and all the
rest of it. There was phones bleeping all
the while. That should have been stopped
immediately. It was very distracting.
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Stories from three victims
Mark’s experience
MARK WITNESSED AND INTERVENED
AN ATTACK ON A CHILD.
It’s been very, very traumatic, to put
it mildly. I’m self-employed. I’ve been
self-employed now for just over 10 years.
When this happened it had been just over
eight years. I came very close to losing that
business. I’ve been in and out of specialists,
head injuries. It wasn’t picked up initially,
but it’s become increasingly clear in the
last two years now, that I’d suffered quite
a serious head injury as a result of this. I’m
male, I’m stubborn, my attitude was things
will get better, and eventually my wife,
after about eight months, basically had to
turn round and say you need to go and see
somebody. And we went to see somebody
and it was, and things went from there.
And it was a case of yeah, you’ve had quite
a serious injury.
It’s put quite a strain on the family because
one of the things that happened is that
I’m not allowed to drive any more, which
may seem insignificant, but when you’ve
got two young children that want to do
after school activities, that want to get out
and about, and want to go and see their
friends, who might live in another village,
it’s very, very difficult, very very difficult.
Fortunately my wife works full time, or
unfortunately, but my wife works full time,
so income’s been less of a problem. We
don’t need for anything, and I consider
myself quite blessed for that. But there’s
just, it’s just the little things, it’s the little
things you might wanna do, that are
difficult.
Just to go back quickly, every memory I’ve
got of what happened to me that day is
second hand. And it’s taken me a while
to realise that, but the only way I’ve been
able to piece together what happened
to me is through other people telling me.
That’s quite worrying as well. Some of
that’s physical, and the specialists do tell
me that a little bit of that is emotional as
well. But a lot of it is physical. So, yeah
things have changed. I have some quite
serious side effects. I suffer memory loss,
blackouts, it’s not uncommon to suffer
confusion.
I’ve been registered with a disability,
because of those basic three elements.
Officially I’m not supposed to leave the
house unaccompanied. Life’s not that
simple any more unfortunately, but, you
get the idea. Attitude of friends has been
great. The attitude of the authorities, for
want of a better description, has been
quite lacking.
My experiences, with regards to the way
the police handled the incident, I thought
it was fantastic. I couldn’t, couldn’t have
asked more of the police officers that
responded. And whilst I was recovering
they were able to make an appointment to
come and see me at home to get the follow
up, more detailed statement, which they
did at my convenience, rather than asking
me to come to the station, ‘cause I was still
quite bad at that time. They were brilliant.
The CPS I had no contact with. And the
courts, I do feel the courts, I was let
down by because I was just left in limbo,
and I, there’s not even, doesn’t seem a
designated point of contact when you get
to the courts, to find out what’s going on.
I was told nothing. I think…the last
two years of my life, I think the only
correspondence I ever had from the
courts…I had a letter [after] three months,
telling me that a hearing had taken place
and he’d been found guilty, he’d had a 60
month referral order and £60 costs. I have
no idea what a 60 month referral order is.
That was the only correspondence that I
ever had from the courts.
I made the mistake of intervening. No
it wasn’t a mistake. I’d do it again in
a heartbeat. You don’t, you don’t see
something like that happen and stand by
and let it happen. It wasn’t a mistake. I
would do it again, I’d certainly do it again.
And I think, and I’ll be honest with you,
I think the biggest people to have been
affected are the children. Things they
wanted to do they suddenly can’t.
September 2013
The aim of Victims’ Voice is to shape a
new approach to crime and anti-social
behaviour in Northamptonshire that is
focussed upon victim and witness need
and reflects their priorities.
Aim of
Victims’ Voice
Terms of reference
The work of Victims’ Voice was shaped
by what victims identify themselves as
priorities.
Areas of focus included:
•Developing new ways of genuinely
engaging with victims across policing
and criminal justice services as a whole,
and of giving victims a voice going
forward that is heard loud and clear by
all agencies;
•Analysing how well the needs, priorities
and experiences of victims are
understood, and to develop better ways
of building richer understandings;
•Ensuring that the needs, priorities
and experiences of victims are taken
seriously and acted upon to:
–Develop excellent service for victims
across the criminal justice system;
–Drive a faster and more victim-friendly
courts system;
–Make things coordinated, coherent
and cohesive for victims, so that
they are not just passed from one
professional or agency to another;
–Strengthen the support services
available to victims, and ensure they
meet their needs and priorities;
–Build the trust of victims to report
their victimisation and access services.
•Championing restorative justice
approaches, whilst ensuring that these
are geared to meeting the needs of
victims and are fully shaped by their
wishes;
•Considering as part of the approach to
Victims’ Voice the special needs and
priorities of vulnerable victims.
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The aspiration of Victims’ Voice was to
listen to as many different people from
across Northamptonshire as possible, to
give them the opportunity to tell us about
their experiences of being a victim or
witness of crime and anti-social behaviour
and to help us understand what we need
to do better.
Hearing from Victims
and Witnesses
Online and postal surveys were promoted
and distributed to thousands of
community groups and individuals across
the county. Other specific organisations
were contacted to help promote the work
of Victims’ Voice to a wider cross section
of the community, both externally and
internally to staff, including; businesses
and large employers, voluntary sector
agencies, local authorities, local colleges
and the University of Northampton. Local
and parish councillors were also asked
to promote and help engage victims and
witnesses on our behalf.
Facebook and Twitter were also used to
reach other sections of the community.
A dedicated Victims’ Voice telephone
number was promoted (using the Victim
Support Contact Centre) so that victims
could give their feedback over the phone.
In addition a Victims’ Voice email address
was developed for people to email in their
views and experiences of being a victim or
witness.
Organisations who worked with victims
and witnesses also distributed and
promoted the Victims’ Voice survey,
ensuring that people from different
backgrounds, ages, ethnicity, and those
who live in rural or urban locations could
participate and share their views.
Over 1,000 people gave their views and
experiences.
As well as the surveys, many victims and
witnesses took part in interviews and
others were involved in group discussions.
Staff and volunteers, particularly in the
police and support agencies, explained
Victims’ Voice to many victims and
witnesses to help them have their say.
September 2013
Between May and June, 2013 around 120
hours have been spent listening to victims
and witnesses of all types of crime and
anti-social behaviour.
We wanted to hear from as many people
as possible and knew we would need to
be creative and use different approaches
to encourage people to take part. We held
workshops with people with disabilities,
interviewed residents in areas experiencing
high crime and in places such as
supermarkets, where we could meet a lot
of people who might not have otherwise
got involved. One of the successes was
creative workshops held with young
people where drawings, paintings and
drama sessions help them to visualise and
explain in different ways their experiences
of crime and the justice system.
We also wanted to hear from people
that work in and around the criminal
justice system and those that work with
victims and witnesses. Staff surveys were
undertaken to draw out and gather their
views and experiences. It also gave them
an opportunity to tell us about areas for
improvement and where they thought
good practice was taking place. Roundtable
events were also held with professionals
that were focussed on different themes,
including domestic and sexual violence
and abuse, anti-social behaviour and hate
crime, and with specific groups such as
magistrates.
In addition to the large scale engagement
with victims and witnesses across
Northamptonshire, a review was also
undertaken to identify best practice from
within and beyond the county, to improve
service for victims and witnesses in the
future.
Learning points
It was essential to use a variety of ways to
hear and listen from victims and witnesses
from across crime types and anti-social
behaviour (ASB). It was particularly
important to tailor the approaches used
and work differently compared to other
consultations undertaken so that victims
felt able to be honest and open and felt
safe in the environment they were in. A
key success was accessing victims and
witnesses through organisations that
offered them support or who were or
had previous contact with victims. This
approach was particularly successful when
organisations providing support contacted
victims by telephone and were able to
explain the aims of Victims’ Voice and the
importance of having their voice heard.
In Victims’ Voice we have explored some
experiences of families affected by serious
and sudden incidents such as road death
and murder. However we suggest that
further in depth research is undertaken to
increase understanding of the experiences
of these families, ensuring this is
approached in a sensitive way.
A significant success from the methods
used was the workshops with young
people that included art and drama as well
as peer led discussion groups to describe
their experiences of being a victim or a
witness. Feedback from the young people
themselves describes the benefits they
saw in taking this approach:
“It was fun interactive and useful to put
our point across”
“They actually listened to what you had
to say”
This report describes the experiences of
victims through their own words.
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September 2013
The real impact of crime on victims and
witnesses can often be lost.
Many of the victims and witnesses we
heard from described to us the often
extreme raw emotion of being a victim or
witness of crime. They told us how crime
can impact several elements of their lives,
and describe not just the emotional impact
but also financial consequences and
feelings of vulnerability and not feeling
safe in their own home or local area.
Through Victim Support, we heard about
the experiences of a family and the impact
this had on the victim.
Impact
“[The] son has been the victim of an
assault that resulted in him losing 30%
of his vision… It has affected the family
financially as through the loss of sight and
consequent operations the victim has had
to have time off work and his parents have
had to pay the rent on his flat. Emotionally
it has affected victim’s 12-year-old sister as
she saw her older brother bleeding from
the eyes in hospital. Also she now thinks
you can assault someone and you will
get away with it.”
Financial
As well as immediate loss of property,
victims also talked of the longer-term
impact, often due to increased insurance
premiums. Some older victims said
their reported financial losses were
irrecoverable. Victims describe how
this financial loss has also affected their
confidence and how they will be able to
live and support themselves in the future:
“I experienced a man coming to my door
and saying that I had paid too much for
some work done and it was badly done.
He [said he] was from trading standards
and were taking my gardener to court to
reclaim my money. I was the last of 25
victims they were contacting and they
needed to work fast, the court need £3,000
from me. In short they had my money and
were to return it plus the money paid to
the gardener. They had then asked for a
further £6,000 which I was unable to give
to them, then they suggested I went to my
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14 | Impact
bank and did a bank transfer of £36,000
which would be returned the next day. All
this time I was being followed and they let
me know this. There were several phone
calls constantly putting me under a lot of
stress. I was unable to make any calls on
my phone and my friends remembered my
phone was constantly busy.
“As a result of this I have lost my
confidence and any savings as I get older.
I need home help which I have had to
reduce. I am not at an age where I can
work again to regain any of my finances.
The impact will be long term.”
Both individuals and businesses refer to
loss of earnings as a consequence.
“Lost clients, insurance increased, had
to stop working for three days. Feels like
I pay taxes to be penalised rather than
protected.”
A victim who owned a rural business
described the impact of theft of farming
equipment and canopy brooders from a
poultry house:
“It has altered the way we manage our
business building extra costs in terms of
staff time on a continuing basis.”
Another victim from a rural area of
Northamptonshire describes stables being
broken into and having a lot of equipment
stolen including:
“£500 of my horses’ rugs had been stolen
which I’d spent many years to buy. That
was bad enough but they’d also broken
through a fence which still had a pony in
it! How he didn’t get out on the road was
very lucky but I know if it was my horse or
most of the other horses at the yard they
would have got out and possibly been hit
by a car.”
At first glance this might be viewed as
more of financial impact but when hearing
from victims many describe how the
impact is much deeper than this:
“There was financial and emotional impact
on me. The financial side was the £500 I
had lost on my rugs and had to borrow
money from my parents to get a rug for
my horse for the winter so she didn’t
freeze… the burglars just think people
As a result of this I have lost my confidence and any saving for
which was a reserve if I had kept if I need any help as I get older.
I need home help which I have had to reduce. I am not at an
age where I can work again to regain any of my finances. The
impact will be long term.”
that own horses have loads of money or
are insured. I have neither for my rugs. I
don’t have much money and spend a lot of
time saving up for things I need and rugs
can never be insured! Also the emotional
side was the fact I lost one of my horses
suddenly a few years ago and some of the
rugs were his which I was never going to
sell for sentimental value (they were the
first rugs I’d got for him 10 years ago).”
Feeling unsafe/vulnerable
Victims told us that they often felt unsafe
and vulnerable after the crime they
had experienced. Victims particularly
feel unsafe when they mention other
vulnerability factors such as being
‘female’, ‘older’, ‘pregnant’, or ‘disabled’.
A reoccurring fear is of meeting the
offender or it happening again, with such
feelings often reported as lasting for years,
sometimes up to a decade. Crime can have
a huge impact on a whole family. They go
to extraordinary lengths to feel secure and
safe again in their own home:
“…We had tiny babies – twins – and our 21
month old little boy. We were so frightened
of the burglars coming back. We jumped
when anyone knocked on our door and I
clearly remembered nearly falling down
the stairs in fear when the house phone
rang one day. I couldn’t be at home alone,
during the day or night (my husband
works erratic hours) so time off work
was arranged for my husband until I felt
I could stay in the house alone. We have
since fitted four CCTV cameras around
our house, we have much more security
lighting, we have alarmed windows and
doors, and locks in every single window.
We are much more prisoners in our own
home but it’s the only way we feel safe.
Every time we go out, even for an hour or
two, I wonder what we’ll find when we get
home. It never leaves you.”
Victims told us how one crime can have a
long term effect:
“I daren’t sleep upstairs in case anything
happened while we were in home… I
daren’t go out into the back yard as that
was where they got in and my ex worked
shifts – I had to get up when he left for
work because I didn’t feel safe! I have left
said property now and have been left there
9 years, but that fear has never left me!”
Victims spoke often of children being
fearful and scared of crimes, particularly
those that have affected the whole family
such as burglary;
“It has affected one of my children
especially badly, she refuses to go to bed,
panics about windows being opened,
thinks we’re going to get burgled again...”
Emotional
Individual victims told us of how one
crime can have devastating consequences
for not only the victims involved but also
subsequently on whole families, a victim of
burglary said:
“A man came to the door about 10.40ish
in the evening and said there had been an
incident in (name of area). He said he was
from the water board and need to come
into our house. He pushed past my wife
and myself and gained entry to the house.
He assaulted my wife pushing her onto her
bed and thumped her on her left cheek
and eye. Her face swelled up and her nose
bled profusely. He assaulted my wife with a
small screwdriver and cut my left hand and
right elbow. He shouted out where is the
money and took my wife’s shopping bag,
which contained some cash and other
September 2013
items. The cash amounted to about £70.
He then left and we contacted our care line
who informed the police and ambulance
service.
Impact long term, as my wife eventually
died 6 months after the incident... She had
gradually deteriorated after the incident
with increasing difficulty in breathing
and a heart problem (arrhythmic beat).
She suffered with nightmares about the
incident and would wake up thinking the
doorbell had rang. This also disturbed my
sleep and caused anxiety.”
Several victims mentioned how being a
victim has affected their mental health,
a victim of harassment said:
“It has ruined my life I have tried to commit
suicide, I have long term drug problems my
mental health is so poor even a small insult
can make me feel worthless. Because of
what happened to me I have had financial
problems lost jobs and even my college
work and apprenticeship have suffered
as well I haven’t managed to finish any
course or stick out a job because of my
mental health. After coming forward
once my abuser had been reported to
the police I found that my anonymity
was compromised and soon my entire
town was ridiculing me and making fake
Facebook accounts pretending to be my
abuser. The police seemed to not care
about the abuse I received there view was
‘if your not going to press charges then we
can’t do anything’ so if a murderer had no
one to press charges do they let him walk
free? To this day I can’t walk through my
town with out someone shouting abuse
from a car or by people passing by.”
The impact crime can have on victims
and witnesses is highly dependent on
the individual and the support they have
around them, whether it be from those
they are close to or from a support service.
Victims spoke about the importance of
friends and family and how this can affect
the impact of crime in the long term on
the victim and their family as a whole.
The mother of a victim of sexual assault
told us:
“We are a positive family we have great
holidays every year together... we have got
a good family unit. Me and my husband
have been together years. So we are, very,
very close and I think … god forbid if this
had of been to somebody who was on their
own I don’t know then if it would’ve been
a different outcome, and obviously I’ve
always had concerns about [named victim]
you know I’ve always sort of, you probably
think I’ve been a right old nag bag, are you
all right, are you all right, [named victim]
are you OK? But I’ve been there to ask him,
but other people that are on their own
I mean I presumably they would, would
they get any more support from anywhere
else?”
“It has affected one of my children especially
badly, she refuses to go to bed, panics about
windows being opened, thinks we’re going to
get burgled again...”
| 15
16 | Anti-Social Behaviour
Impact
Victims of anti-social behaviour describe
the massive impact ASB has on their lives
and how it affects their wider family also:
“I’ve actually been under the doctor for
the last two years with severe depression.
I was off work for over 12 months. Um,
and my partner’s just going to the, down
to the doctor’s today and he’s been signed
off with depression. Our two children have
suffered, they’ve gone into school tired,
kept awake so many nights.”
“The family next door to me moved in,
and from day one, within twenty minutes
of them walking through the door I had
problems. The first thing that happened
was a chunk of metal, a big chunk of metal,
come flying over my fence and hit my
granddaughter.”
“I don’t think the council understand the
impact it has, you know on the family as
a whole. You know my own children not
wanting to visit at the house, because of it.
Having to have doors and windows shut in
this weather, to try and shut out some of
the language. You know it’s not good. They
affect your life.”
Many talk about the stress and emotional
impact ASB has due to its often continuous
nature;
“ you just sort of like, are waiting for
something to happen all the time. You can’t
relax in your own home. You can’t go home
and just shut the door and think oh that’s
it. You can’t have, you can’t have a quiet
five minutes or half an hour, because you
think something’s gonna start, something’s
gonna kick off. I originally, I haven’t been in
my front garden for, well, on my own, for a
good three years, because I can’t cope with
them staring out the window, walking past,
and commenting and everything else.“
The emotional strain and pressure of
ongoing ASB is a continuous theme
identified across ASB victims:
“You know and I could sit down at home
you know and I could cry you know for
what I’m going through and what I’ve
been through.”
September 2013
Victims also told us how ASB is affecting
the wider community;
“Our neighbours the other side, some other
neighbours, and, and also sort of like the
whole, the whole area, if they, sort of like
if they kick off or, if they have a party, then
the surrounding area suffers as well. They
have to phone the police for, for what’s
going on.”
Reporting ASB
Several victims said that issues were too
minor to report to the police to begin with,
and others commented that it took them
a long time before they took the decision
to report. This emphasises the importance
of the quality of service provided to those
making their first contact, as they may
have been experiencing issues for some
length of time;
“We waited 18 months. We just thought
that it would sort itself out”
“Well it had been going on for seven years.
But it had died down, and then it started
back up.”
Victims are unsure about where to
report ASB to and which organisation is
responsible for dealing with these issues.
“And it was just like I wanted guidance,
what should I do? Should I inform the
police or the council or both?”
“We didn’t know initially that it could be a
police matter”
“And I thought, oh my God what do you
do? You call the police and they’ll say well
we can’t do anything. and that was when
my, the most frustrating part. i know
that they can only deal with anti-social
behaviour. i know that they were saying to
me, we deal with anti-social behaviour, the
noise is environmental health.”
Another victim was very impressed with
the services available to her but was not
previously aware of them:
“The help that’s out there that I didn’t
know nothing about, because I never had
anything like that before.”
Organisations who attended the ASB
roundtable events reiterated the points
that victims make, a representative from
the youth offending service stated:
“I don’t think they know where they can go
– it’s not obvious.”
A representative from Northamptonshire
Police also highlighted the issue of victims
not knowing to report noise nuisance to.
“Many calls are taken on this issue by the
police but it is actually an environmental
health issue that sits within local councils.
However people call the police as
environmental health do not offer a 24
hour service nor at weekends.”
How to get to the right service
Organisations working in and around
ASB service provision question how
effectively victims are referred to other
agencies when it is not within their
organisations’ remit. A representative from
Northamptonshire Police stated “even
police matters go through to housing”.
Suggestions from these organisations
include:
“Could there be a clearing system –
where a decision is made on where the
job needs to go?”
“Calls made about ASB may be a hate
crime or other – the person doesn’t know
which words to use. There could be a
dedicated number with people who know
who to refer to and what the issue is.”
When a victim was asked how long it took
for them to be directed to Environmental
Health for the noise that was affecting
them they said:
“I’d say good few months. Definitely
months. And then somebody said, well
why don’t you go down to the Council they
might be able to help you.”
| 17
18 | Anti-social behaviour
In the discussions at the partner
roundtable events some partners stated
that until a crime is actually committed or
more powers are given it can be difficult
for organisations to respond to ASB.
Several different organisations discussed
who should intervene and whether more
work should take place with communities
to help themselves, for example in
developing “community mediators” with
the aim of “nipping issues in the bud”
before they escalate into longer term
issues.
“But this family I think should be looked
at. I mean the social worker visits regularly
now, but everything’s planned. And then
the minute she’s gone, everything’s back
to how it was before, everybody’s oh yeah,
oh they’re all so nice you know? They see
this disabled old lady who’s lovely to these
grandchildren. But they don’t see the old
evil women that we see”
A victim support representative said
that mediation between offenders and
victims, and other restorative practices,
are often not offered until it reaches
court. There was acknowledgement that
mediation and other restorative practices,
for example obtaining a letter of apology
from offender to give to the victim, can be
resource intensive at the time but there
is evidence that this approach can stop
issues continuing and escalating, and that
the victim:
“at least feels part of the process ‘I’m being
asked’ – that helps!”
A police representative said that “Victims
don’t like to be signposted. If you can tell
them what they need to know, the need
for support may be far less, if someone
takes them seriously and listens to them.”
A county council representative stated that
some victims were being asked to record
the ASB they were experiencing in multiple
diaries for different agencies which causes
unnecessary effort for victims.
“I’d already filled all these things in, but it
just seemed to me to be filling forms in for
nothing, because nothing was happening.
He’s been telling me, we’ll do this, we’ll
do that we’ll get sound equipment in.
Never ever. I mean the police have offered
me sound equipment, we’ve got a CCTV
camera up now in the front of the house”
The majority of partner agencies
who attended the roundtable were
supportive of a one stop shop approach
for ASB, where victims could be given
one central place to contact rather
than being expected to know the roles
and responsibilities of each individual
agency, this approach could also assist
in referrals for support so there is more
consistency with the service provided
across the county. A representative from
Northamptonshire Police said that the
approach taken should be a:
“24/7 operation with the ability to deal
with it there and then and not to take
details and pass it on to a team to deal
with, often the next morning. The victim
wants and needs to know what is going
to be done about their problem there and
then. They also only need to do one thing
i.e. ring one number and everything else
will kick-in automatically.”
Housing Services
Some victims feel there is a lack of interest
and action from housing services until
issues became much more severe and
housing officers are often described as
uncaring, disrespectful and unrealistic in
what they expect victims to deal with:
“It was just her attitude. Well, have you
tried going round and speaking to the
lady? You know? I’m sorry, but what world
do you live on? Because these aren’t
people that you can reason with…she says
well what would you, what d’you want me
to do about it? And that was her attitude.
And I didn’t like that at all, I really didn’t
like that.”
“But I always had a fear of using the lift
if he was about. And the lift is another
problem, there was all the people urinating
in the lift and because I was probably one
of the younger ones in the block, I was
terrified that the older residents would fall
over. So maybe twice a day I would mop
out the lift. I did it for my own benefit,
but I did it more so for the older people
and for any of my family visiting, I was so
embarrassed.”
“I had a bit of a meltdown earlier
this year. I, it’s like, I’ve been banging
my head against a brick wall dealing
with Wellingborough Homes and
Wellingborough Council previously. They
talk the talk, yes we’re gonna do this, we’re
gonna do that, but they don’t actually do
anything. He visits, and they’re laughing
and joking and he’s leaving. Well that
doesn’t constitute someone that’s just
firmly told a lady that she must stop this”
Lack of powers against
private landlords
Victims feel frustrated about the lack of
powers against private landlords given to
the police and local authorities:
“It’s just the, the logging of everything.
It seems to, when you’re actually going
through it, it seems like it just takes such a
long time. But then our position probably
is an unusual one with the fact that, if it
was a council tenant or social housing
or a private landlord, a legitimate one
who did everything by the book, then it
probably could have been resolved a lot
quicker. But there doesn’t seem to be any
powers in place for a landlord that doesn’t
actually play ball. There doesn’t seem to be
anything that the council or police put in
position that can actually sort of like speed
things up in that department.”
“And the police used to phone the landlord.
He didn’t wanna know. [council officer]
used to phone the landlord. He doesn’t
wanna know. All he wants is his money”
September 2013
“And he [police officer] has chased up the
landlord and I think has put a little bit of
pressure on. He phoned me at work one
day and said, look I got a meeting, we’ve
actually found the landlord. I said, ooh.
Ooh progress. Cos he did say good news.
And I says, oh it is, it is your doing fine,
keep at it. And he was having a meeting
with the landlord and with them. Now this
has taken three years. Why have I had to
put up with all that intimidation, all that
anti-social behaviour, all the filthy looks
that I get off some of the lads that I feel
as though they’re going to, ooh you know.
Feel as though they would like to thump
me maybe.”
Lack of consistent feedback
Victims of ASB describe the
communication, information and feedback
they receive very differently, highlighting
inconsistency across people and services.
Several victims describe a lack of feedback
from the police:
“But I said, will I get any feedback? Yes of
course you will. But I never did hear from
him, which is unfortunate.”
“Parties and fights in the street, one family
in the street. Noise – goes on all hours in
the street, fireworks…It’s ongoing…[the
police] haven’t got back to me”
A representative working in an ASB unit
describes ASB as “so life impacting – long
term care and support is needed,” and
questioned if organisations such as the
police are resourced and structured to
be able to provide long term support
and whether a specialist provider of ASB
support is needed for ongoing, long term
provision of support.
Several organisations working in and
around ASB agree that the types of
support needed for victims of ASB often
differ to victims of crime due to the nature
of ASB often being “a long drawn out
process”. They suggest that support can
often turn into “confidence building” and
that this needs to be considered in the
design of ASB support services.
‘High risk’
Victims of ASB referred to ASB Units
(which can be made up of police and
local council staff and other agencies) and
deemed ‘high risk victims’ describe the
positive action taken by the units:
“Well, (local authority community safety
officer) asked to us to take note of the car
numbers and so did our PCSO, he is brilliant
he is, I love him but he has recently retired
and I haven’t met the new person yet.
(PCSO) he made you feel very safe didn’t
he? Erm, and he would periodically go over
there to speak to this person. He would
make us feel better. With the community
safety officer and PCSO together, we felt
empowered”
“Yeah, she (community safety officer) came
and she interviewed us several times, she
would come to the house so she could see
the actual physical location and situation
and she didn’t make promises but she told
us what her aims where, she was aiming
to do this, she was aiming to do that, she
couldn’t promise, there is no way she could
have promised but she followed through
and she was absolutely brilliant. She used
to come into our house through the back
gate so that he wouldn’t see her”
“I’ve been given numbers to contact if, if
anything kicks off or if I’m unhappy about
anything. They’re concerned about the
distress it causes, you know, to the person
that’s making the complaint. And I think
that’s, that’s good.”
“Every single one was absolutely fabulous
to me. They looked after me, they come
and see me and I’m still seeing people after
all this, the PCSOs were fantastic support
and still offer me support now, they are
fabulous absolutely fabulous.”
Although victims who are assessed as
high risk describe positive experiences
of service delivery and support, a
representative from the Northampton
ASB unit describes:
| 19
“It differs drastically. We have one person
who deals with cases in Northampton –
other areas don’t have that. She is the
only dedicated person – and she only has
time to deal with high level cases, so the
medium and low risk cases don’t get any
support”
Initial police response
The experiences below highlight the
difference in level of service received from
the initial police response. Some victims
speak very positively and describe police
action as timely and reassuring longer
time, whilst others are very disappointed
and continue to feel let down:
“Yeah, she (community safety officer) came
and she interviewed us several times, she
would come to the house so she could see the
actual physical location and situation and she
didn’t make promises but she told us what her
aims where, she was aiming to do this, she
was aiming to do that, she couldn’t promise,
there is no way she could have promised but
she followed through and she was absolutely
brilliant. She used to come into our house
through the back gate so that he wouldn’t
see her”
“And they’ve, the PCSO came round, and
he got the lads to tidy up, he got them to
shift the bins into their yard, so that they
weren’t sitting on them, looking into my
bit of garden. What a big difference that
made for a start. So simple, you know? He
kept patrolling the area, constantly. They
still do now. Not as often, but they still do.
And just having that presence here, in the
village, has made all the difference, to me
anyway. And from other people I’ve spoken
to, you know, they’re quite happy with the
police presence too. Just seeing the yellow,
blue and, you know, it’s, does make a
difference
“Young people were skateboarding over a
wall, landing in the middle of a busy road,
and had become threatening and abusive
when asked to stop…The police had given
me a number of a fast response vehicle
circulating in the early evening. There
was no answer on the phone number. A
response came to my voicemail message
hours later and an officer visited within
a few days – which was pointless and
unnecessary. We needed an immediate
response and did not get it.”
“With the exception of PC generally
disappointed with police response e.g brick
through window. They did not come out till
we chased them up by phone twice and we
believe they did not log the incident. The
officer who did finally come out advised us
to move house.”
September 2013
“‘cause I got told by the police if you see
where he is, you need to phone us and
we’ll come out and deal with it. But I did
phone ‘em a few times and they didn’t act,
so you feel like you’re being let down there
as well.
Victims experiencing ASB on an ongoing
basis value one consistent point of contact
rather than re-telling their story and
experiences numerous times to different
organisations and individuals. Those
victims that know they have one contact
and a consistent record are reassured by it:
“Phone up and say, and they know. They
know the background and so it’s all on
record that, all this business it’s all on
record.”
“I’ve had weekly visits from one person,
kept in regular contact. I mean if I need her,
ring her. Not a problem.”
Victims’ experiences highlight the
difference in type of service and feelings
of reassurance provided by ASB units in
comparison to the inconsistent initial
action police response officers. Several
victims describe the emotional stress
and length of time it takes for agencies
such as the police, local authority and
housing associations to take their concerns
seriously and respond according to their
need. Victims feel genuine relief and
surprise about the level of service they
receive through the ASB units. This raises
questions about victim expectations and
perhaps views of the ASB units may be
different had they not received such poor
service by response officers.
Lack of communication
between organisations
Some victims describe the lack of
communication between different
organisations across the justice system;
“Well we’ve had some instances where
we’ve had to call the police out in the past,
and we’ve got in touch with the council
and they haven’t actually known anything
about it. And so sometimes it comes like a,
quite a while to filter through.”
“Just sort of like, if an incident happens
and it’s reported to the police and it’s in,
it’s to do with the council...as well, just so
they get informed like the, within sort of
like 24 hours, so that they can actually get
in touch with the victim and try and get
something sorted”
“And I didn’t know any of this, and the
ASBU woman rang me and said oh I’ve got
good news, he’s being kept in for another
week. So I, I was relieved. Then within the
next hour she’d met me from work, told me
that he’d been released. So that was lack
of communication.”
“Yes because, when I rang someone from
the police she didn’t know. She said oh
I’ve got his file up and it says he’s being
kept in till, another week. So it was lack
of communication.”
| 21
Recommendations
Organisations working in ASB response and support services describe the
implementation of a case management system and suggest that in Northamptonshire
we are moving towards a position where organisations will be able to share information
and updates more easily and quickly.
•The Police and Crime Commissioner should develop a ‘one stop’ service for victims of
anti-social behaviour, to avoid victims having to ring around several different services to
receive the help they need. This service would enable any type of anti-social behaviour
to be reported to one place that will coordinate a response across organisations, and
will be a 24/7 service.
•The police should consider how victims of long-term anti-social behaviour have a
continuity of officer to avoid having to repeatedly tell their story and ensure their case
is actively and consistently managed.
•Mainstream victim support services need to cater for all victims, including those of
anti-social behaviour.
September 2013
Impact
The victims of domestic violence we spoke
to describe various experiences including
financial control and theft, stalking and
harassment, emotional abuse, sexual
violence, physical violence and violence
towards their children. Some victims report
their abuse to the police, whilst others use
support from local agencies to cope with
their situations and to make plans for the
future. A number of victims experience the
whole criminal justice process and many
describe their victimisation and its’ impact
as on-going, suffering for years and unable
to see when it will truly end.
Domestic Violence
Victims describe the impact of domestic
violence on their lives in very different
ways, often talking about feeling low self
confidence, feeling like a different person,
never feeling safe, always looking over
their shoulder, finding it very difficult to
trust people and feeling guilty about the
impact it has had on their wider family
and children;
“It’s so draining it’s I mean like I said to you
earlier, I go out to put my washing out and
I’m on edge because I, I have sort of before
not this time walked out my back door and
he’s been there. So that obviously frightens
me. When he was doing it over Christmas
he was in like a loud car at the time. So
every time me and my son hear a loud car
we’re up at the window having a look to
see if it’s him. It’s affecting my son terribly;
he wouldn’t go out to play until about two
months ago.”
“I ran. He was half way down the stairs. He
grabbed me. I knocked on my neighbour’s
house. He had me round the neck. Thank
God she opened the door. I don’t know
what would have happened to me … I
was bad I couldn’t speak for about twenty
minutes. I just couldn’t speak. Crying in
a state, never felt like that in my life. She
phoned the Police. She said what are you
going to do? I knew I couldn’t go back. He
was ringing my phone, saying do you want
anything in the shops? I think he was going
mad. I felt relieved the Police were called. I
felt I would be safe if they got here. I didn’t
feel safe. I didn’t feel unsafe before but it
| 23
24 | Domestic Violence
had been building up for months…
I wanted them [the police] to get me away.
I didn’t have family. Felt vulnerable, sorry
for myself. I thought I have nobody. A man
and police woman came, he could see I
was not good. I have to admit they were
lovely. He said unless you say you want to
go back, we will find somewhere for you.
You are safe, he kept saying that. I didn’t
know what he meant at the time a refuge
or what.”
“Yeah so I mean emotionally as well for
my, my family like they are absolutely sick
to death of it. They just want him to leave
me alone. It’s, it’s a strain that…I’m going
to get upset now, it’s a strain that I’ve
caused that. I know I haven’t caused it but
the decision I’ve made like in the past to
be with someone and then it’s resulted in
this on our lives. Like ‘cause we are really
normal people, we are just a real, what I
consider is a real normal family. We get on
very well, we’re very close and then this is
just totally not, it’s out of our comfort zone,
we don’t know how to deal with it. That’s
why we obviously keep going to the police
and, he left me with a lot of debt and I’m
still paying that off now. I’ll pay debts ‘til
I die. I don’t care as long as I’m not there
anymore, ‘cause my life is so much better
now.”
Seeking help
Victims tend to confide in someone other
than an authority before reporting abuse
or violence to the police, for example a
friend, family member or neighbour. This
however is not the case where victims
are subject to control from their abusive
partner, where contact with friends, going
out or making telephone calls is made
almost impossible and rarely without
risking severe consequences. In these
cases it appears that organisations such as
the children’s centre and health visitors are
a real lifeline. In private and secure spaces,
staff in such organisations or roles are able
to communicate with potential or suffering
victims under the guise of a child’s welfare
appointment. No letters are sent home,
no phone calls made, no reference to the
issues that may be discussed in that space
are made in front of the perpetrator. For
some women, this was their single, only
opportunity to talk about it and seek
advice;
“I used to go sometimes in the children’s
centre to talk to the health visitor in there.
But that was only because I could just
make some excuse to get an appointment…
they used to give me a note, like saying we
made an appointment.”
“The health visitor, she used to come visit
my, she see me, she see something, maybe
it’s her work … but she just looked when
my husband when to the toilet she asked
me if it is … she gave me her number ‘if
something is bad, just call me’ but me not
to tell, you understand…she save my life.”
Most victims are unaware of the services
provided for victims who do not want to go
to the police, and many say they want to
see more advertising, particularly in places
such as GP surgeries, hospitals, maternity
wards, leisure centres and libraries. Those
services could also be promoted at events
that victims attend; they suggest police
and other agency open days, leaflets and
stands in shops and the town centre. The
examples above highlight the need for
people to be able to find this information
without looking for it; it needs to be in
‘everyday’ places with opportunities to
pick up the information without being
noticed.
Many victims talk about their reasons
for not seeking help from anyone, family,
friends or agencies, as caused by feelings
of embarrassment, wanting to just put it
behind them and sometimes feeling as
they do not fit the typical stereotype of
a domestic abuse victim:
“For me because I’m a bit older, it’s not like
I’m 20, I’m 50 it’s an embarrassment thing.
Its shame, it’s embarrassing. That’s how I
feel. I don’t want people to know that me
and him have got a problem, that there’s a
problem you know…If it hadn’t have kicked
off like it did, I wouldn’t have reported it.”
The nature of emotional, psychological
and physical abuse, which often changes
and intensifies over time, means victims
change their minds about what they want
to do and what they want to happen. The
police and organisations working with
domestic violence victims need to be
sensitive to this. Advice, understanding
the options, seeing different perspectives,
having children and seeing the impact on
wider family members are just some of the
reasons victims give for deciding to go to
the police:
“The police were really supportive at first
and in hospital … I was safe and the police
were there. They were really nice and I did
my statement in the hospital and they took
pictures of my face but I told them that
I didn’t want to take any further action
… I just wanted my stuff back and then I
wanted nothing more to do with him …
When I was in the hospital toilet cleaning
up my face, I had to clean all the blood
off myself and I saw the inside of my lip
all bruised and blood in my mouth and ...
a reality check, and then after having the
x-rays yeah, I want the police to charge
him.”
As described during a roundtable event
with people working around interpersonal
violence, the first contact that a victim
makes, with any organisation, needs
to count. This is particularly so when
disclosure puts the victim and their
family or children at risk. They make that
first contact and immediately, they have
shared the risk they have often been
shouldering for years, and it becomes
the responsibility of organisations and
authorities to keep them safe. An officer
from Northamptonshire Police said:
“If you look at referral rates and number
of calls going up, does this suggest society
is more dangerous or that the public
are more confident to report? Certain
communities struggle to access support.
Needs addressing as a whole rather than
pockets of awareness and accessibility. If
a victim wants help, they don’t care about
the high, medium or low risk levels we
adopt. We get one chance to get it right.
First contact counts.” Intimidation and fear of retaliation
For a lot of victims the worry, anxiety and
fear of what the perpetrator might do to
them, their family, their children, their
property, their pets and other behaviours
is too much to take the risk of telling
September 2013
friends, family or reporting to the police or
other organisations. Where victims have
reported to the police previously, even
having a positive response, this often does
not mean they will report again, as the
levels of fear and repercussions can change
daily. The majority of victims that have not
reported to the police are not aware of
services that they could go to for support,
advice and counselling. There is little
knowledge amongst this group of victims
that there is no need to ‘officially report’ to
access support and help.
“I think in my situation, three months
more I will be dead if I can’t speak to
nobody … that time I can’t call police as
well because I still live together with him.
If I call police and the police come as a
result of my problem, you understand
the police then go, I don’t know what is
to happen… Sometimes you can’t call the
police because you don’t know … because
the men like that don’t want somebody to
hear what they are doing. Outside they are
very kind, you understand … but liars, you
understand?”
“He’d tell me if I’d told anyone he’d make
sure that, you know that, I’d come out
worst, I’d look the bad person sort of thing.
When the kids were little, he would say
that I’d never be able to keep them, the
kids, he would get them. He would say to
next door that I would be an alcoholic or
whatever, a prostitute or, you know. He
was good at manipulating people and
making stories up.”
Immigration status and
financial trapping
Many domestic violence victims are forced
to leave the home they are in to escape
the violence they suffer. This often means
moving children also. Particularly for
parents who do not work and have young
children or several children, the financial
complications of leaving the home make
it almost impossible. Knowing the risks
that your bank account might be emptied,
that the child benefits or tax credits go
into the perpetrators account and you
may have to survive without that money
for a prolonged period of time, makes the
decision to leave much more complex than
escaping violence alone.
Victims who have insecure immigration
status – these victims are legally living
in Britain, often married or have long
term spouses of British citizens and their
children are often British citizens too –
often find it impossible to escape domestic
violence because of their financial reliance
on their partner. This ‘status’ means those
victims are unable to request financial help
for housing or living expenses because
they are not registered for housing benefit.
The risk of being left destitute is a reality
for many victims in this position and often
means victims will choose to endure
violence in the home to keep a roof over
their heads.
Due to the regionalisation of immigration
services we have heard from victims
who travel to Coventry in order to
receive advice, support and to undergo
the process to assess their immigration
status. This is costly travel. In the example
described to us the police seem more
concerned with seeing the victim’s
passport to establish their immigration
status before making any commitments to
offer assistance:
“…when the police ladies come they, she
ask me the question … she said I’m not
allowed social benefit because I have
immigration passport and my, at that time
my husband take my passport, I don’t have
any documents, so they can’t know really
what is written in my passport. But then
they, rushed to my house, I broke in my
husband’s bag … and I take my documents,
so they are looking my passport. They
see I am right to stay here and have,
a … permanent documents. Because
sometimes they are not, you are not
allowed public funds.”
Some victims are able to move in with
family or friends, but continue to suffer
from the financial control or debt caused
by the partner.
“I can’t drive, or I don’t have any money
to go to town … to go somewhere and run
in to get some information and get back
home before he comes home. I cannot do
anything … was thinking about leaving him
because, but I don’t have anywhere to go
if I’m leaving. I don’t have any family, or
friends...”
Evidence and being believed
Victims describe a real pressure to
gather evidence of the emotional,
psychological and, or physical violence
and abuse they suffer. Many describe
police officers as requesting to see the
‘marks’ or ‘aftermath’ of an abusive or
violent incident in order to continue
listening to their story and, essentially, to
believe them. This is extremely upsetting
for victims, who have often undergone
an ordeal and psychological trauma to
get to the point of choosing to report to
the police. To then be questioned about
their integrity, their honesty and their
willingness to lie or embellish about their
experiences, is not what victims call police
assistance for.
“The police they, they ask me if my
husband beat me, if I have some rash. I
said I don’t, they want something, proof.
But there isn’t, there is a difference… But
they want to know if you are, before they
help you… Yeah, the man can beat you,
but not make a mark… Because me, my
husband used to smack me, smacked me,
the babies. Smack, smack, but no ... but
they want proof…”
“…the police said I will be asking you
questions and I will measure if your
problem is serious or your problem is not
serious. And the police asked me questions;
your husband beat you, I said yes. Give you
food, I say no. Hit the babies, sometimes
he hit babies. He said my husband
make sexually (unclear), I said no. I say
sometimes he lock me indoors and goes …
[the police] said my problem is not serious,
he can’t do nothing.”
“I know that’s true, but why doesn’t
anyone believe me? Just because he can lie
like that. And then after that I did report to
the police and then after like six months or
so they said no, they couldn’t get any proof
so ... that was it”
| 25
Victims of domestic violence have made it
very clear that when the police say there
is not enough evidence or information to
take their complaints further, that this feels
like a direct attack on them and often feels
like they are considered by the police to be
untrustworthy; to be liars:
“When I used to ring up and make a
complaint against him the police officer
was like oh, but we can’t prove that and
yet I told her if they went to the shop
there’s loads of CCTV in the shop, they
could have checked that and proved it. I
felt like I weren’t being believed, like I was
just making things up”
“I wanted to be believed, that I wasn’t
the crazy one”
“They only could have been a little bit
quicker, so that my husband, they could
have found him in the house. Because he
ran away like really quickly and ... so I was
the one who was lying.”
The process of giving the statement, the
environment, the behaviour and language
used by police officers all contribute to
victims feeling that they have been taken
seriously, that their story is believed and
that they will be supported and protected.
Giving a statement to police officers in a
public hospital waiting room, about the
experience of physical domestic violence
and the incidents that led up to it, is not
considered by victims to respect them,
their privacy, their need for confidentiality
or reflects officers taking their case
seriously.
Those working with domestic violence
victims agree that the emphasis for
evidence collection is on the victim
and that this is stressful and needs to
change. Someone who has a great deal
of experience working with victims of
domestic violence said:
“Cases I’ve dealt with it’s down to victim
as the main witness to present the main
evidence. The victim is likely to withdraw if
known offender, not like a stranger being
punched in the face when one is going to
pursue it. We should capture other things
that can be collected when the victim or
witness first reports. Gain more evidence
at the time. Lots of clients don’t want to go
through the court process.”
The need to feel safe
and protected
All victims of domestic violence want to
feel safe and want the fear of what could
happen to them or their family taken away.
Knowing that the police are protecting
them and will respond quickly to calls of
concern is vital for many victims and takes
them a little closer to a life free from this
fear. Many victims experience great service
in this sense, using their threat alert (direct
to police for response) which reassures
them that they do not have to explain the
level of risk on the phone to the police;
they will get an immediate response that
will help and protect them in their times
of need.
“They can’t improve nothing else ‘cause
they’ve already done it... They’ve kept me
safe. ‘Cause they saw me and my friend in
the police station ... they don’t shy away
from it. I think they done brilliant, ‘cause
they came straight away”
However, some victims feel that they
are not considered ‘at risk’, or their case
is not ‘serious enough’ to enable them
access to this type of police protection
and response. Victims talk about their
experiences being seen by the police ‘in
isolation’ instead of understanding the
escalation over several years and listening
to their concerns of what might happen
next. Where perpetrators have breached
conditions such as restraining orders
and victims report this to the police they
expect something to be done. Hearing that
the police have logged the information but
because nobody can verify it they won’t
do anything about it, does not reassure
victims that they are protected. Victims
question what the point of bail conditions
are if they are not enforced:
“The custody sergeant said there’s not
enough evidence ... she’s got a picture
of him there. They said it might not be
him, it was him, you could see it was him
but again that was very frustrating like. I
mean obviously they see a lot of bad things
everyday and I just sometimes feel oh is
this not bad enough for you to, to take a
September 2013
bit seriously? And just keep letting him out.
And like I said over a month three times he
got bailed.” “I do not want to be the next victim on the
news where they say ‘why wasn’t more
done to help this woman and her child?’’
“I’m still scared. That’s why I wanna move
up north. ‘Cause I keep thinking he’s gonna
be there everywhere, ‘cause he knows
everywhere. I’ve heard now he sometimes
cover himself over. He had a cover over his
face. With just a little peep-hole to see his
eyes. That’s what I’ve heard, but it’s just
rumours. I’m sure I spotted him but I can’t
be 100%.”
“I don’t go out and see my friends
anymore. I don’t feel safe walking in to the
playground with my kids. I don’t like it …
when it’s too busy in the crowds”
For those victims that do not have a
‘threat alert’ agreement with the police,
it is considerably more difficult for them
to feel that the police will respond to their
calls and ensure they are protected. Before
victims are ‘risk assessed’ they will receive
a generic police response. The example
below from a victim shows how dangerous
it can be for the police to take a complaint
of a noisy male at face value. More needs
to be done to train front line officers
to recognise the signs associated with
domestic violence:
“[the neighbours called the police] the
police turned up and he told them he was
arguing with his mother and that they
should ‘eff off’ and I was under the table
hiding, he goes don’t you bloody move, if
they find out you’re in here he goes you’re
gonna get it and he went to the door, he
goes I’m having an argument with my
mum on the phone and they didn’t come
in to check if there was anybody else in
the building or anything. I was 28 weeks
pregnant with our son then so I was really
at risk, that was the one time I thought oh
God, I could die here, like ‘cause he was
mental but like no, they just left. They came
twice and left and said you need to keep
the noise down if you’re on the phone to
your mother.”
Having a voice and being heard
As described earlier, victims often take
a very active role in the gathering of
evidence to prove their victimisation
in the early stages of reporting to the
police and where perpetrators are set
bail conditions. This experience then
changes very dramatically at the other
end of the justice process, where the
sentencing of the perpetrator is designed
and decided by a magistrate or judge
without the views or preferences of the
victim being considered. Victims describe
this as very difficult, as they have views
on the best course of action to take and
are often equally interested in seeing the
perpetrator punished as rehabilitated.
Victims often talk about the need to deal
with the mental health issues or problems
that they see in the perpetrator and the
need to put conditions in place to ensure
they are addressed. Concerns about
domestic violence, particularly where
stalking and harassment of the victim,
their wider family members, friends and
neighbours occurs, are often about fear
that the problems will ‘never go away’.
Victims suggest that prison sentences,
short or long, do not provide them with
reassurance that everything is being
done to rehabilitate the perpetrator and
maintain their safety long term.
“Basically, if they just stick him in a cell,
everybody else is in danger too. Once they
have hit that point of violence, he’s picked
up something as deadly as a knife. So I
kept saying to them you know he needs
sectioning and so I had to sign this thing
are you going to press charges. And I’m
thinking he doesn’t need that, he needs
sectioning more than anything…”
“No, no I haven’t and that’s why
sometimes I think what is it gonna take
to be, I know they take it seriously but I
kind of think it’s leaving it open for him to
maybe one day just think I’m just gonna
get violent and is it gonna take that for me
to get that bit more help to hopefully get
it to stop? The courts maybe, like when
they give him his sentencing and like I said
to you before I’m not trying to get him put
in prison because I don’t really think he’d
be with the right type of people in there. I
don’t think he’d come out a better person
because he’d probably get I don’t know
three months for instance, that’s not gonna
turn his life around. But what I want him
to get is help for his psychological issues
and it’s a lot, I mean it’s not just about me
what’s wrong with him, it’s a deep rooted,
he didn’t have a very good upbringing.”
“I mean his, his last sentence he got I did
feel was very good and, community service
and the restraining order and a year’s
probation as well. And I did think … like
that was a good result because like I said
putting him in prison or whatever is not
gonna do anything. You only have to do
half, he’d probably come out worse.”
“I expect him just to get a slap on the
wrists again. What I want to happen
is, well I mean I don’t know what they
sentence, I’m not really good about law
and stuff but I don’t know if they can sort
of make people get help. They said to me
the prosecution, sorry the probation could,
could delve into that. I don’t know maybe
a tag or something so I don’t know how
tags work ‘cause I don’t know stuff about
that, but so it would alert them that he
were near my area where I live and stuff
like that.”
Throughout the justice process victims
want to feel that they are being listened
to, that they are important and that the
information they provide is being taken
seriously and used. One victim describes
her experience of getting ready for court,
which takes away from her role in the
process:
“I said to her I want to see my statement,
she said you can’t. What do you mean
I can’t I said. She said you can’t till the
morning of the [court case]… I said no, I
want see my statement; I don’t believe
it’s correct. I have seen it now, I was a bit
firmer. I feel that there was a bit I was not
happy with. I was tired and didn’t have
glasses when I gave my statement that
night. You should be asked later, are you
still happy with your statement? You are
expecting me to stand up in court because
he is pleading not guilty, and you won’t let
me see my own statement.”
| 27
Experiencing the justice process
Victims experience of dealing with
magistrates, the Crown Prosecution
Service and the courts tends to be
described negatively, where victims are left
feeling as though their case has not been
presented or considered fairly because of
issues with evidence, special measures
to protect them are not provided or not
guaranteed and communication about
what is happening is poor.
“When it finally got to court it wasn’t even
on record as evidence. That was missed
evidence which meant that if he didn’t
plead guilty at the last minute, which he
did, the Crown Prosecution had the lack
of evidence because it wasn’t gathered
properly… And I even took it with me, to
the police station in August when I had to
do my victim impact statement. I took the
copy of my dental records with me... and
she looked at it and she says she’ll make
a note in the statement, yeah. And it was
never done.”
One victim talked about the challenges
of speaking to each organisation, making
phone call after phone call to find out
when the case will be in court, what she
needed to do to prepare and receiving
instructions from a variety of people made
her anxious;
“Didn’t want to go to court, wanted to run
away. I felt like I was the one on trial. It
was horrible. I weren’t sleeping, I weren’t
eating, up and down all the time and
stroppy, stressy and... I felt like I was the
guilty one, not him, and yet he could do
things to me and get away with it.”
Many victims talk about how important
it is to them to be protected in court,
particularly using screens and avoiding
‘bumping in to’ the perpetrator at any
point during the court case and in and
around the buildings. Many victims speak
very positively about the witness service
and the commitment of staff to ensure
they did not see the perpetrator, using
back entrances, checking areas before
victims entered and ensuring they were
safe getting home. One victim however,
did not receive this level of service and
the impact on her experience of court
was serious:
“I expect him just to get a slap on the wrists
again. What I want to happen is, well I mean I
don’t know what they sentence, I’m not really
good about law and stuff but I don’t know if
they can sort of make people get help. They
said to me the prosecution, sorry the probation
could, could delve into that. I don’t know
maybe a tag or something so I don’t know how
tags work ‘cause I don’t know stuff about that,
but so it would alert them that he were near
my area where I live and stuff like that.”
September 2013
“I went to the courts to have a look round
and requested a screen, I then later
received a phone call to say that the court
date had changed and changed towns.
Yeah, no, CPS hadn’t told me, the courts
hadn’t told me, the police hadn’t and the
police had my new address and my phone
number was the same all the way through
it. And then chances are he would have got
away with it because I couldn’t, wouldn’t
have turned up, and then when we went
to Kettering it was on a Friday. I was told
that I wouldn’t see him because it was on
a Friday. We went out for a cigarette and
then when we come back in to the court
he was standing there with his brother
and his friend and we had to walk past
him and the security wasn’t going to let
my husband back in to the court because
on Fridays in Kettering it’s a youth court
so it got adjourned… We went, got back
in to the witness care … like the witness
room and it was horrible. I felt intimidated
as well because he was looking at me…
Then in January when it was back at
Northampton I was having to chase it up
again for the screens and then it was a
case of, you’ll found out on the day.”
Which support service?
Victims talk very positively about support
services, the emotional support in
particular, from specific individuals who
they have one-to-one contact with. Victims
often describe this as the main reason
they were able to report the domestic
violence, to go through the justice process,
to attend court and to make steps to move
on with their lives. The support offered by
the Sunflower Centre, Women’s Aid, Nene
Valley Christian Refuge and Victim Support
are all referenced by victims to varying
degrees.
“I wouldn’t have gone to court if it weren’t
for [worker from Victim Support]. I would
have took the consequences of having a
witness summons and breaking it but it
was her reassurance and talking to me
that made me realise that I’d got to do it,
not only for me but for my kids. If it was
my kids it had happened to them I’d want
them to do it and she said it was just the
fact of me turning up that he thought that
he’d be able to get away with it, ‘cause he
was pleading not guilty.”
“I spoke to Victim Support, they said just if I
ever need to talk to them but I’ll be honest
I never rung them, I spoke to the Sunflower
Centre. They made me feel so comfortable,
you know, made me tea. They just said, tell
us what you want to tell us, in your own
time, they didn’t rush me. I did know that
the Sunflower Centre were linked to the
police.”
Domestic violence support provision
in the county is varied by geography,
however, and knowledge of, and pointing
victims towards, support organisations is a
different experience for each victim. Many
victims, once the police are aware and
the risk level is ‘medium’ or ‘high’ will be
contacted or put in touch with all of those
services, which causes some confusion:
“But Women’s Aid done brilliant for me.
Emotionally. And you have a one to one
support worker what sees you and that’s
brilliant, that’s nice.”
“I get mixed up, whose who because I
get so many phone calls. The crime, not
Sunflower, the other one that helps you
when you go to court? [Witness Service]…
that’s the problem I’ve never been
involved with the police my whole life
and I completely, just the organisations
I’ve mentioned, the names, I have just
had so many people just ring up my
number. Because I’m not ‘au fait’ with it,
especially in the early days. The first week
it happened I was still in shock, the second
week, I was still getting phone calls. I don’t
know who they were. I’ve heard of the
word Sunflower, but that was that. I’m
getting so muddled up.”
“Before I came in the refuge I didn’t have
anything and now I’m thinking like to study
again, to do something, that’s because
of them. They gave me that hope back
so I can dream about something, instead
of just thinking my life is just, that’s it, it
stopped.”
“Too many phone calls, I don’t know who
the people are. You don’t remember. The
CPS [Crown Prosecution Service]? The
Sunflower Centre, Victim Support. There …
is too much, too many. I know they must
phone each other. It does seem muddled.
They need to simplify it. Maybe have a
| 29
meeting when you are in refuge, and say
this person is victim support, this is your
keyworker at the refuge. I have only ever
seen the person at the Sunflower Centre
face to face, the rest are phone calls. Not
straight away, maybe after two weeks.
Your keyworker could instigate and say this
person is going to do this for us and this
person is going to do this.”
However, for lower risk victims and those
not in touch with the police, knowledge
of and access to support organisations is
low. Most victims before they report to the
police are completely unaware that they
could have received support from a variety
of sources.
“I didn’t realise that there was all these
difference agencies out there that help
people. Like at the GP, or in the papers. I
think just to know that there is somewhere
to go get help with stuff, like housing,
because I had a big issue with housing, we
were both on the tenancy. I didn’t know
what support was available, it was my
sister who went on the internet and found
the Sunflower Centre.”
The Freedom Programme run by Women’s
Aid is talked about by several victims:
“It’s just normal things, meeting other
men, I’m always thinking, god are they
the same sort of thing. So I’ve gone on
the Freedom programme which is run for
12 weeks and it’s been really good. It’s
about recognising the signs, not to fall for
the same person, what are there traits
sort of thing and then there is a follow-up
one, ‘Staying Free’. I shall go on it. I didn’t
realise how much domestic violence is in
the country, every 4 minutes a woman gets
abused.”
Children and other
family members
An important concern for many victims of
domestic violence is the impact it has on
the wider family and their children. Victims
describe how difficult it is for children to
see, that it does not matter whether they
are eighteen months old or eighteen years
old, they know what is happening and it
changes their relationship. Children start to
want to support then, to keep them safe
and this is described as difficult, because
as parents they want to be in that role.
Support, advice and counselling services
for children are inconsistent in the County
and it is unclear where the responsibility
falls. Some victims talk about counselling
provision in schools and how helpful this
has been. Some talk about Victim Support,
the Nene Valley Christian Refuge and
Women’s Aid providing support to children
in different ways. It seems to depend
on which organisations the victim is in
touch with and which schools the children
attend.
“You are not strong … you have to be
happy to give happiness to your children.
Not happy, I feel sad … the children know.
My God, every time, ask me mummy, what
happened, are you crying? Stop crying,
daddy’s hit you again? You understand. In
front of the boy, sometimes.”
“Scary, still don’t sleep very well at all at
nights. Even though I got the security lights
on and fire guard on. Still affects me and
the kids. ‘Cause he saw what happened.
He’s only young but they know, they know
what’s going on.”
Most victims, when asked, thought
support should be provided directly to
their children to help them to make sense
of what is happening, to help reduce
their fear and anxiety and to give them
somebody safe, outside the home to talk
to about it.
“It’s not just for the older child. I think for
the younger ones, ‘cause if you’re trying
to explain to a 6, 7 year old why mummy
can’t cuddle them it’s hard. You run out
of excuses, mummy’s got a stiff neck, my
back hurts or mummy’s watching telly or ...
but I suppose they’re scared of asking and
… because why has mummy changed so
much and mummy’s not the old mummy
she used to be, she doesn’t play or mess
around.”
The husband of the above victim of
domestic violence (not the perpetrator)
talks about the impact it has on the family
and children. He did not mention any
support offered to the children but talked
very positively about Victim Support,
where he was offered one-to-one support
and was provided with a different worker
to his wife which he found important. He
describes it as a very stressful time:
“She won’t go out … it’s … I find it …
heartbreaking that she can’t even take her
own children to school, you know, I have
to go with her on the school run. Before,
you know, she was I’ll take the children
to school, I’ll bring them home, ‘cause
that was like her time with the children,
spending a lot of time with the children.
She doesn’t get that now. Can’t play or
cuddle with the children anymore. There’s
loads … it’s affected everything.” One victim explains her decision
to discontinue the case against the
perpetrator because of the potential
impact on her daughter, who is the only
witness to her domestic violence;
“My little girl did a video interview … I
pulled out ‘cause I didn’t think it was fair
that she should be interrogated in court at
10 years old. That’s evil. I was a key witness
in a case when I was 14 and the defence
people for the person absolutely broke me
down. It still gives me nightmares to this
day actually being in court as a child so
I pulled my child’s statement out. That’s
what they said to me, ‘I put it to you, you’re
a very troubled little girl who likes to make
things up’. That would have killed her. No
way.”
Repeating the experience,
over and over…
Victims tell us that they are explaining
who they are, what they have experienced
and what their ‘risk levels’ are to
organisations across the justice system
and support organisations at least five
or six times before the formal processes
even start. Victims themselves explain
this as organisations not communicating
very well and not sharing information
quickly or with the right people. The
process of telling the story, going through
the ordeal again, which could involve
years of violence and abuse, causes pain,
frustration, re-lived memories and distress.
This seems to be an experience that all
domestic violence victims can relate to.
September 2013
There is a need to change the way services
are delivered to domestic violence victims
to stop them reliving their trauma over and
over again in order to communicate with
the multiplicity of organisations delivering
service and justice;
“Sometimes if I were to go to the police on
many different occasions and I was kind of,
I don’t know how your systems work but
kind of hoping they’d kind of read a bit of
it. Like, like what I give you in that email
earlier. And sometimes I’d go and they’d
know nothing about it and I will say have
you not checked your records before I’m
here? And then sometimes they go I’ll tell
‘em a bit and they say right we’ll go and
check the records. Whereas I was hoping
in a way that they would actually know.
That’s very frustrating when I have to keep
explaining it over and over again. So now
I just give them that email every time! Tell
‘em to read that.”
“I get confused, lots of agencies does
nearly the same thing or mostly the same
thing. It’s gonna confuse everybody out
there. I think Sunflower’s done the same
as Women’s Aid. The police worked with
Sunflower on the system, I don’t know
if Women’s Aid shared the system, I
haven’t enquired... I think it should be
linked... If they all knew, know what each
other is doing for you ... then you don’t
need to repeat what’s happened, what’s
happened again and again and again. It’s
like hospitals. When one A and E say one
thing, they repeat on the ward, why what’s
going on? And then the next ward and the
next ward ... it’s just like that. Then you
get stressed repeating yourself four or five
times.”
Communication
Victims of domestic violence describe
the challenges of understanding what is
happening with their cases, how they are
progressing and what the next steps are,
due to difficulties in contacting the police
officers dealing with their case. This tends
to be about officers being on holiday, off
duty or ‘never getting beyond answer
phone messages’. Similar issues are talked
about in relation to the Crown Prosecution
Service and Witness Service. Beyond the
practicalities of making contact, timely
provision of information to victims of
domestic violence can be extremely
important, particularly in reducing fear and
anxiety:
“Sometimes they, I don’t know say they
went to arrest him and he wasn’t there in
his house for, for instance and they just like
leave it a few days and then the last time
it was about three days and they phoned
me on the Sunday night to tell me they’d
got him on the Saturday afternoon. And
that annoyed me ‘cause they didn’t, I could
have not been as stressed worrying was he
gonna come again when he’d already been
in custody.”
Communication with victims about the
role of social services in domestic violence
situations is vital, as victims often describe
genuine fear that if Social Services find out
then may take their children away. This
is particularly difficult for victims to hear
when they find out that the referral was
made by an organisation providing them
with support and who they feel should
know that they are the victim and are in
no way a risk to their children. Providing
victims with little or no information about
this process and what to expect means
that they will ask friends and look online
and potentially misinterpret information,
causing unnecessary concern and anxiety.
“They offered me the Sunflower Centre
and were the people who bloody called
social to come and give me a visit thinking
I was a bad mum. They took my children
upstairs and asked them if they were
frightened of me. Frightened of me? No.
[Women’s Aid worker] she said if I had
an issue with you I’d ring social services
myself ‘cause we have a duty to do that
and she didn’t last year so then when the
Sunflower Centre felt that they had to,
when I’m lower risk, I was devastated, I
was absolutely devastated.”
“Social services unfortunately. Sorry for
saying unfortunately, but I don’t like
them... If you have an abusive relationship,
if you have a couple or something goes
wrong, like my son went in the bathroom
and it’s not my fault, they had a little bolt
and he locked himself in. But a housing
officer apologised for that. I accepted
apology. They then, ‘cause I’d been abused
again by this baby’s father, informed
Social Services... And social services said
they’d call me vulnerable. But they said
they’re going for a conference. I told them,
I haven’t done anything wrong. I haven’t
done this, I haven’t done that … what I’ve
been reading on the internet. They went
silent on the phone and they said no I
know you haven’t, you’re just vulnerable...
They’re looking for adult social services for
me, I thought ok. I dunno what’s going on.”
It is unnerving for victims of domestic
violence to have police respond to their
calls for help that appear to have no
knowledge of their history or current
situation. It is not clear from this victim’s
explanation why officers arriving to her
house at four o’clock in the morning
were not made aware of the restraining
order she has against her ex-partner. She
describes her frustration at the officers for
arriving and ‘chatting’ to the perpetrator
outside for what she thinks is five ‘very
long minutes’ before sending him away.
They did not check her safety immediately
either, attending to her once he had left.
She rightly points out that this little bit of
information is very important and would
have changed the attitudes and approach
the police used in the situation.
“Just knowing a little bit of what like I, said
like I didn’t know if they knew oh this is the
girl; she’s got someone outside her house.
They didn’t know oh hold on this has been
going on seven and a half years on and off.
They didn’t know that. Had they just been
told that little bit of information, it’s only a
little bit to say isn’t it, had they been told
that, and that she’s got a restraining order
against this guy, he’s outside her house.
Had they have just known that even, it
might have not made them so casual
towards him.”
| 31
Communication is often talked about
in reference to organisations failing to
communicate effectively with each other
or provide updates and information
to victims. Further from that, the
communication styles and methods used
with victims is an important factor to
recognise. The below point made by a
victim of domestic violence trying to find
out what the court decision was after a
trial, received a terrible response:
“No court results, that’s one thing that’s
quite bad and the man who works in the
office is awful, he really sounds like he’s
asleep. And I’ve heard this from other
people before, this isn’t just me. Just like I
think I phoned him at half three and he’s
probably finishing his shift and he just
sounded like I don’t know, like I was an
inconvenience and very, very unhelpful.
Just ‘can’t’ for every question. Oh we can’t
do that. They expected you to know the
way the courts work. They for some reason
thought I knew how things work and I said
I’m just phoning for a court result. I gave
the police officer’s name, they said I could
call you today at half three. He was like haha they did they? And that’s what he said
to me. Mm yeah they do things like that.
That’s how he, that’s what he said.”
This is not the type of service that we
expect victims of crime to receive. Victims,
who did not want to become victims in
the first place, have suffered the trauma
and distress of domestic violence, battled
through a police and justice process in
which they have to prove they are telling
the truth, tell their story over and over
again, they finally get to the point of
finding out the decision made about the
perpetrator to be made to feel like an
‘inconvenience’.
Recommendations
•The services to support victims of domestic abuse should be more actively and
innovatively advertised, to seek to ensure that all victims of domestic abuse can
be made aware of the support that is available. For example discreet messages in
places such as GP surgeries, libraries, places of work and on the radio where victims
can access information without putting themselves at risk.
•Currently victims are confused about which support organisations do what, feeling
that some duplicate each other and others are unavailable in some areas of the
county. Support services for victims of domestic abuse need to feel like one service,
coordinated by one agency and coherently explained and offered to all victims.
•Services currently available to support the wider family and particularly children
of domestic abuse victims should be further reviewed to identify any gaps in
current provision, from which improved services should be developed which better
meets their needs. and an analysis of the needs of families and children should be
undertaken, to help design improved services to meet their needs.
•Currently the onus is on victims of domestic abuse to collect or show evidence to
prove their victimisation. This needs to change. Police officers should offer more
help and support to victims ensuring they feel believed and officers should take
responsibility for collecting appropriate evidence.
•Local authorities should review their powers to support victims of domestic abuse
in cases where the victim is legally in the country but has insecure immigration
status (for example where the victim is a partner of a British citizen who is their
abuser), and provide more effective services to them. Victim support services
should improve their knowledge to support victims in such circumstances and
work collaboratively with local authorities to implement more effective services.
September 2013
Sexual Offences
The effect of sexual offences on victims
is particularly pernicious, personal and
traumatic. Some of the experiences victims
of sexual offences shared about their
victimisation are too sensitive to include in
this report. Given the trauma and longterm needs of victims of sexual offending,
it is particularly important that victim
support services and the criminal justice
system rise to the challenge of meeting the
particular needs of these victims. Whilst
the majority of reported sexual offences
are female victims, men are also victimised
in this way and find it equally, and in some
cases more, difficult to report. This section
includes the voices of female and male
victims, and the parents of children who
have been sexually assaulted. Talking about
such experiences is not easy. All those
victims and family members of victims
who shared their experiences through the
Victims’ Voice process did so willingly, and
their primary reason was to help improve
services available for others.
“I mean the thing is you’re only gonna gain
experience and knowledge through people
like myself telling our tale.”
“…that’s why I wanted to meet with you, to
see what, well not what can be done now,
but hopefully what you could do for the
future, and where I feel the system’s being
let down.”
Sexual victimisation has significant
and often life-long impact. Commonly
used language was of an “ordeal” and a
“nightmare”.
“…words can’t really describe what we
went through as a family at the time.”
“And I remember screaming and being like
get off me, and trying to get up… And then
I got quite hysterical.”
“…they’ve been so up and down with
emotions it has been unbelievable.”
“When I feel I need to cry I can never cry.
But when I want to sit and talk about it it’s
like, oh, floodgates open.”
| 33
34 | Sexual Offences
“Initially it had a major impact on me…
it just came down like a ton of bricks. I
couldn’t think of anything else… I was
reliving from the flashbacks the bits I
could remember. A lot of guilt and blame
of myself for getting myself into that
situation.”
These impacts are long-term, and often
life-long and are wide reaching across the
lives of victims.
“…it’s got a long-term effect. Initially I
wouldn’t go out of the house, certainly not
speak to men. Long-term, it’s for life. Going
to stay there for life.”
“It’s screwed her life up big time.”
“I still don’t want anything to do with men
at this point. I still don’t really actually even
let my dad hug me. There are points on my
body where anyone touches them and it
triggers things. And I’m ten months on
and I still can’t have men touch me.”
Victims share feelings of anxiety, and
significant changes in where they feel safe.
Many victims are left feeling unsafe in their
own home and also fearful of going out.
There is an impact on work and family life.
There are also real concerns about sexual
infection.
“I was thinking, you know, he’s gonna have
all these things, and I was beginning to
really worry”
“I didn’t sleep. I had anti-depressants and
sleeping tablets. Didn’t feel comfortable
at home. Felt scared to leave home… My
social life was completely obliterated.”
Some victims speak of an ongoing fear
of their perpetrator, with real worries
that they might be approached again by
them. Some offenders lived quite close
to victims. Some victims experienced
counter-allegations from offenders which
majorly complicated their circumstances.
“being afraid of everything. Fear is there all
the time… fear that he was going to turn
up on my doorstep. I still feel that could
happen.”
“I was afraid he would come back to my
address. I felt very vulnerable at home.
So initially my thought was that he would
be arrested for this, give me some sort of
security, but that didn’t happen until weeks
later”
A critical period for victims is when they
first experience specialist services, in many
cases typically shortly after an offence
has taken place and been reported. At
this stage there are more mixed feelings
expressed of the experience.
Others talk of how, long after the offence,
the perpetrator still seems to be ‘pulling
the strings’.
“Serenity made me as comfortable as you
could in that sort of situation.”
“…the last couple of weeks have just
basically been atrocious,… the heartache
that man has caused and yet he’s still
pulling the strings”
Feelings of guilt and shame, and of selfblaming, are commonly discussed by
victims in terms of how they felt at the
time of the offence and afterwards.
“…how he manipulated me, pulled me in,
got me where he wanted me”
A common experience is one of not being
believed, and of losing contact with friends
and family.
“Others in our group [of friends] thought
I’d made it up. Blamed me for what I’d
reported. Didn’t believe me.”
Specialist services
Most victims had engaged with specialist
services, and the overwhelming tone
of their feedback was that the service
they had received had been first-class
and critical to supporting them through
immensely challenging times.
“The wait for getting anyone to come to
the building because it was the evening
wasn’t great.”
“But the room was empty. It was the
middle of the night… They have cold,
horrible buildings, and you are there with
Woman’s Best from three Christmasses
ago.”
One repeated criticism at this stage of
specialist services was of female victims
being examined by a male doctor. This was
a practice several victims felt should be
stopped.
“And there was this male doctor who
turned up. And it was kind of he turned up
and they went are you okay with having
a male doctor? And slightly at the point
it was a bit, I am in so much shock I don’t
really know what I’m even doing. But there
wasn’t even a choice. It was just he who’s
on call… the time delay wasn’t great and
the male doctor thing wasn’t great, but
none of it really sunk in at the time.”
“I had to go through it all again, not exactly
what I wanted to do with a male doctor.”
“I would say to anybody Serenity and rape
crisis are absolutely brilliant”
“The examination was very difficult with a
male doctor.”
“[Serenity]…can’t fault them”
Critical to this support is the comforting
sense victims have that services are
there as long as they need them, and are
sensitive to their individual needs. Longterm support and particularly counselling
is seen by victims as critical to their coping
with what has happened to them.
“They [Serenity] were really good, they
were helpful and they kept me feeling like
safe as well”
“Serenity. She was my rock. Regular
appointments. Slightest concern or worry,
she was always at the end of the phone.
She was just amazing”
“Serenity… she’s supported me all the way
through it, just been there for me. She
has been my biggest support. Emotional
support and helped me understand things”
Most victims are positive about the
ongoing care, although some voice a
concern about how disjointed it felt, and
their need to ‘tell their stories’ several
times over from scratch. This is particularly
the case when less ‘specialist’ provision
such as GPs are part of the victim’s
experience. Some victim’s talk of GPs
September 2013
as ‘simply not knowing what to do’, and
victims comment how little knowledge
there appears to be of the specialist
services that are available, not only with
GPs but even with police officers. At
times it is clear victims still experience a
breakdown of continuity of care, and that
services are not made available to them.
“they’re going to be there for however long
he needs the service.”
“I didn’t want to explain it the first time,
let alone the sixth or seventh time. There
was just, there wasn’t any continuity of
care, and there wasn’t anyone organising
anything.”
The criminal justice experience
The single issue that most hinders
victims’ recovery is in how their cases
are investigated and the delay and
discontinuation of criminal investigations
and court cases.
Many victims approach the formal criminal
justice system wracked with feelings
of guilt and self-doubt, and a lack of
confidence that they will be believed and
taken seriously. Sadly the experience of
some victims who have engaged in Victim’s
Voice bear out some of these fears.
Victims were quite clear about what they
wanted from the formal criminal justice
system. Central to these are desires
for ‘protection’, for ‘justice’ and ‘to be
believed’.
“to feel safe”
“to get some sort of justice”
“…something being done about what
happened”
“I didn’t feel protected at all”
“…would they believe me?”
Victims often have considerable levels
of anxiety about approaching the formal
criminal justice system to report what
has happened to them. Victims begin the
process of formal reporting doubtful that
cases will be taken forward, and fearful
of the ‘ordeal’ of being cross-examined in
court if it ever gets that far.
“I disclosed it to one of my friends, they
insisted that I reported it, I was a bit wary,
a bit scared.”
“…embarrassing to report to the police.”
“… these things are hard to prove, his word
against mine.”
“I was ashamed about what had
happened. Because I’d had a drink the
night before, I felt partly to blame. I just felt
stupid really. I was a bit wary of how they’d
react… I knew I should report it, it was just
very scary to go and tell people what had
happened.”
“I’m probably still slightly running away
from the situation of it happening. I was,
up to a point okay with just going to
counselling. I would want to press charges
I just don’t think I’m strong enough to go
and stand in front of a defence solicitor,
knowing what the statistics are for
people actually getting charged… I read
somewhere there was a 4% conviction
rate. Whether that’s the case or not, but
that’s the bit that stuck with me. And that
again just makes you think well no one
ever gets charged from it… So I felt like I
would be humiliated.”
“…the thing that’s kind of bigger in my
head is there’s no way I could get up there
and talk about it, about the nitty gritty side
of what happened, and have a defence
solicitor turn around and go, you know,
throw everything at me. It’s kind of their
job, but in a situation like that it’s, to know
you’re gonna get someone who’s gonna try
and make everyone not believe you, when
you don’t feel believed in the first place,
completely made me wanna run away.”
It is clear that the initial police response
is very important in shaping how
victims experience the whole of the
justice process. It is important for them
that the initial process of reporting is
professional and supportive; without that
professionalism and support, it is unlikely
they will ultimately experience the process
as a whole as having been positive for
them. Some victims do experience this
initial police response very positively.
“I rang the police straight away, they
came out straight away, so in terms of
expectations they completely lived up
to my expectations when the incident
first happened. Couldn’t have been
better, couldn’t have been nicer helpful
informative, professional, yeah they
were just great.”
“They’ve been brilliant… I can’t fault really
to be honest with you.”
For others, the experience was less
positive, and in some cases extremely
negative. This seems to coincide with
times when serious sexual assault matters
are dealt with by non-specialist police
officers and staff, who clearly have not
had sufficient skills and supervision.
“I didn’t expect to have to explain in more
detail in front of strangers in a waiting
room.”
“[on first reporting] her response looked
like shock. I thought how is this shocking
for you, you work for the police, you should
know how to deal with things like this… I
didn’t get the impression they were very
knowledgeable… when I was escorted to
Serenity I got the impression it was the first
time [the accompanying officer] had been
there.”
“I just felt I wasn’t worthy, important
enough.” (on being turned away from a
police station because the police were too
busy)
“I wasn’t given any advice on what I could
or shouldn’t do in term of forensics.”
“I thought they’d want to question him.
And that didn’t happen. That was the
biggest shock. It was all so slow, probably
a staffing thing, but it didn’t fill me with
confidence… it took five days to take a full
statement. Lots more they could have done
that they didn’t do.”
| 35
“I felt very pressurised and very judged
when they walked in. They had interviewed
[the perpetrators] before they interviewed
me. And I always thought it was the other
way round, I always thought they’d have
interviewed me and then interviewed
them. The guy [male police officer] I
think was trying to make me comfortable
with him, and sat telling me how this
isn’t what he usually does, he usually
dealt with burglaries… And I felt the lady
that interviewed me had a chip on her
shoulder… She automatically presumed
that I was drunk, and kept asking me,
you’re sure you didn’t have too much to
drink?... And I felt very pressurised and
very, very judged. And very unbelieved…
They very much didn’t leave their
judgements at the door.”
“I rang the police straight away, they came out
straight away, so in terms of expectations they
completely lived up to my expectations when
the incident first happened. Couldn’t have
been better, couldn’t have been nicer helpful
informative, professional, yeah they were
just great.”
Reflecting the above issue of less
experienced and skilled officers and staff,
some victims’ experiences of their ongoing
police investigation have also fallen well
short of expectations. For others, who
have experienced skilled specialist staff,
the experience of the police investigation
has been very positive.
“… they were amazing, the officer
concerned went over and beyond,
sometimes keeping her work phone on out
of her hours so she was available… right
through the court case and beyond… I
could praise her all day long”
“The crime itself has left me feeling quite
vulnerable however this is something I am
confident I will come to terms with and be
able to move on. The police investigation
made me feel very anxious and caused
me to be quite stressed. I felt like I was a
nuisance, and whenever I got emotional
the police readily reminded me that they
were not victim support.”
“When I went two weeks without hearing
from anybody and not being able to
contact anyone, I just felt lost… It doesn’t
take two minutes, I know the police are
busy but, just a little inkling of what’s being
done.”
“I had to write down her shift patterns to
work out when I could contact her.”
September 2013
“I am definitely going back to the police,
because it’s, it’s ruined our lives. And I
mean I don’t want to sound selfish, but I
hate the fact that it wasn’t done properly.”
“And for them to have lost my file, at the
point where I thought actually I may go
forward with this, they kind of stripped
the confidence back to do anything with it
again.”
When cases do get as far as going to
trial, victims have substantial anxiety
about what the process is going to be
like. This anxiety stems from a wide
range of sources, including fictional TV
programmes, but is also drawn from
experiences of other victims they have had
contact with.
“So I don’t see why I’ve got to say the exact
same things all over again in front of how
many…”
“they’re not going to make me stand in
the court room they’re going to make me
stand in a room like near the court room
with like a camera and that… But I still, I
still think it’s sort of wrong that his solicitor
is going to stand there and try and like
ask me questions and try to fool me into
saying things. Like luckily I think I’ll do fine,
‘cos I don’t think I will be fooled by it, but
my sister [is younger], she’s not going to
understand that they’re trying to twist her
around.”
One complaint of victims is that they
have never met the barrister who will be
presenting the prosecution case before the
first day of the court hearing, whereas the
offender seems to have developed a close
relationship with their counsel over several
months, reinforcing their perception
that the system is all geared around the
offender and not at all focused on the
victim.
“I don’t know who this person [the
prosecuting barrister] is, I don’t know
anything about them, not even their
name.”
The length of time court proceedings
take, and the inconvenience and upset of
repeated adjournments usually requested
by the offender’s legal team, has a major
impact on victims.
“It’s just him prolonging it, his solicitors
prolonging it and then the Judge bowing
down to him, which I must admit I did not
like whatsoever, because the trial date was
set. We all got there, people had weeks
off work to come and support me and my
family, we had people coming down from
different sides of the country to support the
family… and it weren’t even the eleventh
hour… everyone is so psyched up to go to
get it over with, to get on with their lives
one way of another…”
“Now I’m going to be missing time off Uni
[because of the trial delay] and have a
whole week off… so I’m going to be missing
like time off Uni and they’re going to
have to know why and I don’t want them
to know about it. I just wanted to go to
university and just make a fresh start.”
“So the court case has stopped me from
being able to talk to my counsellor about
things I really need to talk about… the
court case is gonna be going on for about
a year and half… I’m going to have no
counselling sessions left by the time it’s
over to talk about anything.”
Perhaps the single most impactful issue
negatively for victims is the discontinuity
of their cases.
“…in the end it all came to nothing.”
“I was very disturbed, but mainly angry, he
could get on with his life as if nothing had
happened… the CPS weren’t taking it any
further and he’d just walk free.”
“The CPS decided that there wasn’t
enough evidence against him… I suppose
with most rape cases it’s one person’s word
against another. That’s been personally
speaking the most frustrating thing…
because I know he did it… it’s the feeling
that there is a rapist out there on the
street still.”
It is clear that communication and
explanation can be improved for victims
at this most difficult of times. Most victims
had a level of appreciation of why criminal
cases might not be able always to proceed,
but feel they were not engaged at all in
the decision to discontinue despite it
being about their victimisation, and that
often they even struggle to get a full and
straightforward explanation from any of
the professionals concerned. Sometimes
the impression the victim has is that the
CPS have taken the decision, but that they
‘hide behind’ the police who explain that
decision to the victim ‘second hand’ rather
than directly from the CPS.
“…so I don’t know, to this day I don’t know
100% why it didn’t go to court.”
“I asked the police, I wrote to them and
asked why they weren’t going to do
anything… And they said to me I need to
write to the head of the CPS.”
“…the judge wouldn’t hear the case…
Obviously that was soul destroying for
me… to me he’s just got off scot-free with
it, so he can go around and rape as many
women as he wants to because he got
away with it…the judge should speak to
them, actually speak to the victim. Hear
their point of view. Hear how it makes
them feel. So he knows their fear. I don’t
see me ever being in a relationship again. I
don’t see anyone being in my life anymore.
I’ll never trust a man again. Is the judge
aware of that, how he [the offender] left
me for the rest of my life? Is the judge
bothered, more to the point, I hope he is…
Why, its just so unfair and unjust.”
“I think after they’d questioned him,
it went to the CPS and they decided it
wouldn’t go any further.”
Taken collectively, it is clear that much
needs to change across how the formal
criminal justice system responds to cases
of serious sexual assault and rape. Those
victims who have spoken with Victim’s
Voice mostly feel let down by much
of what the formal justice system has
provided for them in their cases. This is in
contrast to the specialist victim support
services, where victims feel on the whole
that their experiences have been positive.
| 37
Recommendations
•The police should further develop the training available for all police officers in respect
of being ‘first-responder’ in cases of sexual assault, to improve the quality of initial
contact, manage to a higher standard the initial stages of investigation, and ensure a
thorough knowledge of the specialist services available.
•The current practice of non-specialised police officers being involved on an ongoing
basis in dealing with and investigating cases of sexual assault presents significant risks.
Officers undertaking such sensitive work should be fully trained and during the period
of transition into such specialist work should have access to specialist supervision.
•The police should review whether sufficient specialist resources are available to deal
with all cases of child sexual exploitation and ensure these are readily available when
required.
•Arrangements should be put in place to ensure that all victims of serious sexual assault
and rape attending specialist centres are able to be examined by a doctor of the same
gender.
•The Police and Crime Commission should commission an independent local review
of the attrition of serious sexual assault and rape cases through the criminal justice
system. This review exercise should consider all discontinued cases over a period of
two years, including engaging with some of the victims concerned, to identify clearly
the reasons identified at the time and to inform current and future practice.
•The Crown Prosecution Service should explain face to face with the victim concerned
all decisions that they have taken to discontinue cases of serious sexual assault and
rape. Victims should also be made aware of their right to appeal and seek a review
of the decision.
•The police should ensure that arrangements are in place for confidential reporting of
sensitive issues such as sexual assault in respect of all front-counter and other police
contact points, and that all front-counter staff are knowledgeable about the specialist
services that need to be engaged in such cases.
•Consideration should be given for how services to support victims of sexual assault can
be developed to better meet the needs of victims who are reporting historical abuse.
•Engagement should be undertaken with young people who have been victims of
online exploitation and who are vulnerable to such exploitation, to develop a plan for
improved service provision in the future.
September 2013
Impact
Hate crime has similar ongoing impacts to
victims’ lives that occur to victims of antisocial behaviour. These issues are often
long term and can impact a whole family.
They can start off by being seen as lower
level issues to begin with but then escalate.
Hate Crime
“Quite low level stuff but persistent, day
on day, week on week, with very few
reprieves – caused an awful lot of stress
for [mother of disabled son] – a lot anxiety
– real problems with [disabled son] who
has (severe disability and behavioural
problems) and his view is he’s here to
protect his mother – and trying to keep
the lid on him with this going on, was very
hard on him. [Mother] has health problems
herself – heart & lung issues, diabetes,
mobility problems, not a well person, so
it caused extra stress for her, made the
diabetes worse, suicidal at times, certainly
been depressed……[Son] also got very
stressed his behaviour did increase which
caused problems at his day centre.”
A victim being targeted because he
is Asian, told us how it was regularly
occurring and how repairs were affecting
him financially.
“I kept on replacing the fence even in the
front and in the back and all that, but in
the end now I’ve given up I’ve spent so
much money on that fencing replacing it all
the time it happens. So in the end now I’m
not replacing anything, if they break it let
them do it, let them enjoy themselves. I’m
not putting a new fence up there for them
to come and kick it again.”
The same victim stated that the issues
were affecting him and his family so much
that they were having to change their daily
routine to avoid the offenders.
“So I’ve started avoiding them, I even
told my family that if they heard anybody
outside the kids going out or people
passing down or anything, wait till, let
them go and then go out or if your car
driving in stay in your car until they are
gone and then get out the car and come
into the house. So we have started doing
that now.”
| 39
40 | Hate Crime
Hate crime can have a significant impact
on people’s lives and feelings of safety that
is ongoing and long term;
“It carries on for a few days and then it
dies down for a couple of months and
then starts up again. That’s what keeps on
going.”
“Living with that is very hard, my nerves
are going and I am getting suicidal again
cos yesterday was dreadful… I won’t
be able to take much more and I’m not
moving. It has been very wearing, all
consuming. You can’t live in your home in
peace, you can’t enjoy your home.”
A transgender victim spoke of the how the
crimes they have experienced has had a
continual impact on their life.
“Every time that I’m standing out on the
street, I’ve gotta watch my back, I’ve been
assaulted, would I walk to the corner
shop after dark in winter? No would you?
Letters, people on this street don’t like
you, don’t like what you’re doing, don’t
approve, you ought to move away… so
the result is – you fear for your personal
security.”
People with learning disabilities described
having their houses targeted by children;
“And I had an egg chucked at my
windows… And a brick through my door
and five washing lines cut… And they sat
on a wall and, and they chucked stones at
the window.”
Lack of understanding of
what hate crime is
Victims and organisations that told us
their views were concerned that the police
and other organisations frequently do not
identify hate crime as a factor when other
crimes or incidents are brought to their
attention.
“…because although its never been talked
of as technically a hate crime, that’s
another issue, I feel it is, and I’m not sure
that’s ever been accepted by the police.
I did mention that to PC [named officer]
and he said “well, no” well, when is a hate
crime a hate crime – I do think they are
targeting because they are vulnerable – he
might not call [victim] a retard or a spaz or
be overt but its definitely because they are
vulnerable.”
This was further evidenced when we spoke
with those who work in and around the
criminal justice system.
“Distinguishing between hate crime and
ASB is an issue for many members within
the criminal justice system, let alone
victims of crime”
How did the police and other
organisations respond?
A victim told us about the homophobic
verbal abuse they experienced and being
chased in a car by the offenders. The
victim drove to a police station that was
closed and telephoned the police.
“[The call centre operative told me]
somebody will be in contact with you in the
next day because we’re quite busy tonight,
we don’t have any police officer to deal
with this situation, just drive home and
make sure you’re safe and I did… I think he
came the day or two days after.”
Despite this response, they told us
about the positive experience they had
received from a local officer and the openmindedness shown;
“So and then the police got in touch … he
was fantastic. He was so … understanding,
you know and actually he was the right
person to actually came and took the
statement. He wasn’t judgemental or
anything, he was just there doing his
job and he felt, he made me feel at ease
because he was listening too, because as
far as he was concerned you know I was
being under attack for whatever reason,
you know whatever I was doing at that
location, you know.”
The follow up also met the victim’s
expectations;
“[The police sent a] letter out to me if I had
any more issues to ring 101 and speak [to]
a certain individual that were addressed
to my problem. I mean which [was] really
nice… I know it’s only a piece of paper, but
something like any eventuality I think it’s
just for somebody to acknowledge the fact
that something did happen.”
Other victims struggled to get the police
and local council to take the issues of hate
crime seriously. A victim who had learning
disabilities described the lack of support
they received from the police.
“I don’t know if you know him or not
and he’s a drug addict and keep tapping
my door, sugar, milk, fine, he tapped
for something else, then he tapped for
money… No they didn’t believe me, he
didn’t believe me I’ve got a learning
difficulty, they didn’t believe me I got a, I
had a nervous breakdown.”
An advocate describes a victim’s
experience of hate crime from a neighbour
and describes the long journey before it
was taken to court:
“It is our view that these neighbours are
targeting [mother and son] because [son]
has a disability, [mother] is poorly herself
and they are a vulnerable group… they (the
police and local council) saw it as “tit for
tat, they saw it as a neighbourhood dispute
and thought that police arbitrations was
the answer- it was a bad experience …
eventually police did take more seriously
perhaps than the council, cameras
installed, enough evidence & witness
statements for police to take the neighbour
to court… police were working closely
with the council, we hoped there would be
enough to start eviction proceedings but
council decided that he’s been punished
enough and he should be given the chance
to amend his ways. We knew that that
wouldn’t happen. He started again but
he was very careful not to be caught on
cameras, but we knew eventually that he
would slip up. Eventually we got both of
them on tape (threatening and swearing),
and that’s enough for the council to, we
had to push them down this route, after
the sentence they came up with the idea
of a neighbourhood agreement. I got quite
angry at that stage, for goodness sake
we’re well past that, and they have now
stepped up, we asked to go higher and got
another manager involved, they’ve got the
evidence, they’ve taken it to court.
September 2013
Definitely a feeling that they weren’t doing
anything, or believing [victim] before the
camera evidence.”
Another victim told us;
“I just wanted somebody to be completely
impartial and unbiased and it felt like
that wasn’t what was happening. It was
immediately perceived that it was the
neighbour that was the victim.”
One advocate spoke of how a victim
with learning disabilities and his carers
were being targeted by his neighbour.
Environmental health, due to noise
nuisance claims against the person with
learning disabilities (which were found
to be false), had been involved and then
issues were escalated to the police. The
advocate was going over and above their
duties to tell different police officers on
three occasions that if they are called to
the person with disabilities home that they
wanted to be contacted. They explained
what they had told the police:
“… you can phone me at any point, I will
attend with you, or for you. I completely
get that if you are worried for their safety
you are gonna attend, but the gent has an
ingrained fear of the police, he’s terrified
that he’s going to be arrested and taken
away to residential and never ever be
allowed in the community and he doesn’t
have behaviours like that. Anything that
would warrant that kind of attention. He’s
terrified and with the neighbour regularly
calling the police … so I had said please call
me instead.”
“I weren’t very happy about you know what
the judge had only gave to him ‘cos they only
gave him three years inside for doing it. I wish
they would have give him more … but also
they did give him three weeks community
service work after he come out … but like I
said police got there in time to sort it out and
get the weapon off him, but you know I wish
they would have … helped me, made him ‘
cos of what he did to me, you know put him
inside longer.”
On three occasions the police reassured
the advocate that they would do this. On
one of the occasions the police were let
into the house by a carer who advised the
police not to wake the victim.
“[They were] basically told that they
needed to check that he was safe and well,
I appreciate that, but it was absolutely
terrifying for him to the point where, I get
quite emotional about it, the next 2 nights
he (victim) was so terrified, that he slept
on the landing outside the carers door to
protect the carer.”
It was not until the police hate crime unit
got in contact that service improved. (The
hate crime unit within Northamptonshire
| 41
42 | Hate Crime
Police investigates the more serious
offences, vulnerable repeat victims or any
cases that are thought to need specialist
investigation. Hate crimes and incidents
dealt with by local policing teams and
other departments are always reviewed by
a hate crime officer).
“I was contacted by [staff member] from
the hate crime team who said what can we
do & do you know what – it was a massive
relief somebody actually listened…To be
honest they were brilliant… I then received
a phone call at about 10.30 one evening
from the Police to say that they’d had a
report of noise loud slamming of doors
and shouting, would I go or telephone the
house to check everything was ok, and I
cheered, all this time I have battled, please
don’t turn up on his doorstep and scare
him, and finally, yay, it was done… but it
felt like at least 18 months of fighting over
what I consider poor communication.”
Other victims also told us their experience
of the hate crime unit. One victim told us
how they were kept up to date with details
around the investigation;
“…and then out of the blue I had a phone
call, I think it was two weeks later from
[hate crime officer], yeah who was really
nice … he explained the situation of his
job… And then I had several phone calls
with himself after that keeping me posted
and updated.”
When this individual was asked if they
were aware of the hate crime unit before
the crime occurred the victim stated.
“Yeah I didn’t think I was the sort of person
that would fit into the category because,
because I wasn’t injured, I wasn’t attacked,
I didn’t lose any money or anything. It
was just abusive languages, you know like
queer, you know you disgusting bastard,
things like that.”
A victim told us about the service they
received from their local policing team and
how the hate crime team then followed
this up.
“… left me the alarms, you know the
window alarms, the door alarms and
things like that and the sign, you know
just the stickers and signs to put on the
windows, things like that and they were
quite supportive. Everybody’s been
supportive. I even had the visit from
hate crime unit; she even arranged for
surveillance cameras to put round our
property, but funnily enough when the
cameras were there nothing happened.
Nothing happened at all.”
Support for Victims of Hate Crime
But one victim spoke negatively about the
purpose of the hate crime unit.
“There does not appear to be support for
people experiencing hate crime. I do not
believe victim support is best placed for
this …though [they should] be facilitated
so that reactions and feelings are dealt
with productively. (I am a professional
but I did feel like going out and smashing
other people’s cars...which is a ridiculous
response. If I was younger I probably would
have”
“The hate crimes unit got in touch with me
because they’d picked up that it was a hate
crime….. I asked “are you now going to
handle the case” – he said we can’t –
we can only advise the local area police…..
so hang on a minute – we’ve got a hate
crimes unit that can’t actually do anything
– can you direct them? No, we can only
advise … so what the bloody hell’s the
point of having a hate crime unit?”
Outcomes
Individual victims describe the differences
they wanted in terms an outcome to
their case. When one victim was asked if
they wanted to bring charges against the
offenders the victim said.
“No it’s not about resolution, it’s
about these people learning to behave
themselves in public place because you
know nobody was injured, it was only
some hurt feelings at this time, but you
know they need to realise they can’t …
do it again.”
Other victims want longer sentences. A
with learning disabilities who had been
assaulted with a crowbar requiring up to
24 stitches described their experience
when the case was taken to court.
“I weren’t very happy about you know
what the judge had only gave to him ‘cos
they only gave him three years inside for
doing it. I wish they would have give him
more … but also they did give him three
weeks community service work after he
come out … but like I said police got there
in time to sort it out and get the weapon
off him, but you know I wish they would
have … helped me, made him ‘cos of what
he did to me, you know put him inside
longer.”
There are examples where victims do not
feel services are available that meets their
needs, which can be intensively frustrating
and add to the victim’s emotional turmoil.
A victim who had had their car repeatedly
damaged, but reported it only after the
third time told us:
In relation to victims with learning
disabilities, it was said by an advocate that
they can need ongoing support to build up
their confidence and also to interact with
other people, so that they do not feel so
isolated:
“And just for [victim] to have that
interaction every Friday to come down
and work with us has put [victim] in a
much, much better place than what she
was before we started hasn’t it. It’s given
her more confidence to come out…. I think
that is the problem out there a lot of these,
you know people are being sort of part of
crimes, incidents around their disability, but
there’s nothing else to help, there’s nothing
out there and especially some who actually
like perhaps [victim] who is all on her own
and nobody else to talk to or.”
Some victims with learning disabilities
describe the positive work of local policing
teams and the reassurance they felt from
officers knowing them and developing
relationships:
“The officers work together, everything and
you know they, the officers … but I think
it works really well, there’s a community
sense there in Corby and with the PCSOs
[police community support officers] as well
because the PCSOs go and make sure they
go around and see these people.”
September 2013
Someone we heard from who works in and
around the criminal justice system told us
there is a lack of appropriate counselling
and support available for victims of hate
crime.
“Counselling is completely lacking, the
biggest impact of history of incidents
building up, You can to your GP and get
put on the list for counselling, but its not
there. They want to know they are talking
to people who understand. They want to
speak to one of their own e.g. lesbian, gaythen that barrier goes.”
Support in Courts
Some victims spoke of the positive support
they received through their experience of
court.
“There was good support there from the
witness support people, [a member of
staff] from the hate crime unit has been
very supportive.”
Recommendations
•Hate crime should be more actively and effectively managed with outcomes which
better satisfy the needs of victims, particularly in the parts of the county where this
is identified as a pernicious and ongoing problem.
•The police need to consider how longer-term cases of hate-based victimisation are
managed, to ensure issues are ‘flagged’ on systems, investigated and attending
officers suitably briefed of the full circumstances.
•Support services for victims of hate crime should be designed to provide long term,
quality service that meets their needs, particularly in relation to counselling and
confidence-building.
•The police should evaluate the current levels of knowledge and skill across offices
and staff in dealing with hate crime and the knowledge of offices and staff in
respect of the diversity of their communities.
•The Northamptonshire Police, Crime and Justice Institute, once established, should
undertake a research study into the experiences of victims of hate crime, in order
to shape the improvement of future services and response
Other victims told us the difficulty
vulnerable victims can face in court having
to remember the immense amount
of detail contained in the statements
previously made;
“The evidence included 5 statements that
[victim] had given over quite a time span
and given that all these incidents were very
similar the swear words were very similar,
sometimes they were gestures, so when
[victim] stood up in the witness box, we
had been through the statements, literally
just before the court case, I thought, she’s
not going to remember all this … I don’t
think anyone would remember and you
don’t have a copy of your statements … so
actually that did not help her case luckily it
did go in our favour, if you’re just relying on
witness statements, not a good thing.”
A victim who had learning disabilities
spoke positively abut the officer that had
attended the scene of the assault coming
with him to court, and giving evidence of
what happened to back up the victim’s
story.
| 43
44 |
September 2013
The victims we spoke to and heard from
came from across the county and from a
variety of backgrounds and experiences.
There were specific issues that arose in
discussions with victims and witnesses that
relate to the fairness of services received,
and understanding and meeting the
diversity of individuals’ needs.
Some victims describe excellent service
shown by officers and staff who have
been attentive, open-minded and nonjudgemental in a range of different
situations.
A specific issue that many young people in
Northamptonshire feel, which is supported
by national research studies, affects their
relationships with policing and the wider
criminal justice system. They often feel that
police officers and other staff in the justice
system demonstrate negatively biased
views and behaviours based on their
status as a ‘young person’. Young victims
explained to us that when they report
to the police they feel they change from
‘victim to offender status’ based on their
age and presumptions of their involvement
in anti-social or criminal behaviour. For
example, as a teenager being beaten up
whilst in a park with a group of friends,
this context can affect officers’ perceptions
of the young person as a victim based on
their negative preconceptions of their
behaviour.
Some young victims describe feeling
‘patronised’ by officers and support
services, who fail to take their experiences
seriously and treat them fairly. These
issues are described in more detail in the
‘young victims’ chapter of this report. This
is a very important issue as interactions
with organisations and authorities at a
young age define those relationships
during adolescence and adulthood and can
have a serious impact on confidence in the
justice system and willingness to report
victimisation and crime.
| 45
46 | Fairness and Diversity
Many victims and witnesses with specific
needs and requirements feel that the
criminal justice system, and in some
cases the wider support agencies, are not
equipped to help them in the ways they
require. Disappointingly, it seems that this
tends not to be about lack of resources,
appropriate access or materials, but is
actually based on the skills and behaviours
of the officers and staff dealing with them.
Assessing individual needs effectively and
tailoring services to meet those needs is
vital to enable all victims and witnesses to
participate fully in the justice process and
to receive all available support and help.
This takes time and consideration on an
individual, case by case, basis. In response
to this context, some victims explain it is
very important to them to have the same
officer attend their calls for help, because
they arrive with full knowledge of their
needs and requirements. An advocate for
a victim with disabilities told us:
“It’s been inconsistent, the police
intervention and involvement, we can’t
get anyone out in a reasonable length of
time. Also you get a different officer out
each time, they don’t know the case, they
haven’t got the sensitivity that might be
required.”
Young people with disabilities describe
their vulnerability as a trigger or target for
victimisation by others which makes them
fearful and anxious.
Parents of young victims feel that the
language used by police officers can be
too complex and felt that they needed
to simplify questions and information so
that their child could fully understand the
information provided.
Representatives working in the justice
system raise issues of people with learning
disabilities and difficulties being unable
to “complete a web based reporting
form” and state that different methods
are needed to communicate to different
groups for whom this is not easily
accessible.
Adults with learning disabilities describe
the difficulty they face with members of
the community where their disability is
not visible:
“As soon as you see, you see the disability
and I think like with [names removed]
you see a person coming along the road
with, nobody expects any sort of different
behaviours ‘cause they don’t look like
they’ve got a disability at all, they don’t
act like they’ve got a disability and if
something happens that people just
wouldn’t generally expect. It’s so much
harder.”
The Keep Safe Card was created to
recognise vulnerable people who need
extra support and help in the community.
If a person with learning disabilities needs
assistance, whether they are lost, a victim
of crime or any situation that means they
need some extra support, they can use
the card to access this help. The card holds
basic information about the individual
such as how they communicate, any health
issues and any emergency contacts such as
parents or carers.
There are concerns that although the card
has been used and promoted for the last
two years police officers remain unaware
about why people carry them or what they
need to do in response to them:
“I had one bad experience with a
policeman ‘cause I had a safe card and I
showed him it and he said there was not
enough information on it.”
“Cause what he said to was to, to [person
with learning disabilities] was there’s not
enough information on the card and the
problem is when we done the card we
couldn’t make these guys vulnerable, so
there is lack of information on the card
because we can’t put your name, your
address, National Insurance number…
you just ring the control room because
the police have got all the intel, they’ve
got every bit of information on the intel.
So all the officer needed to do, I’ve got
[person with disabilities name], she’s got
a keep safe card can you give me more
information and that’s all he need to for
information, but we can’t leave vulnerable
people with all the names, addresses, let’s
put all your information, so on the keep
safe card all they’ve actually got.”
A person with learning disabilities explains
that the police appear to be hesitant and
in some ways unwilling to approach and
talk to people:
“Why is the police scared of us, we used to
be scared of the police. Now the police are
scared of us.”
The group that developed the Keep Safe
Card are keen to deliver training with front
line officers and staff within the Police,
which would be delivered by people with
learning disabilities and their advocates,
but raise concerns about consistent
delivery across the County and broader
organisations. The Keep Safe Card was
designed to help vulnerable people and
people with disabilities to communicate
with all organisations and people and
essentially make it easier for their needs
to be met. It is not fair to those using the
cards to call for help and assistance and
receive a service from frontline police
officers or staff who are unaware of the
card and insensitive to its’ purpose.
Vulnerable victims’ experience of the
criminal justice system
A mother of a son who has disabilities
and who had been physically and mentally
assaulted described the impact on her
son and as a mother;
“I’ve had a nervous breakdown. And now
I can’t work, because I have to look after
him because he will not go anywhere, he’s
too afraid… [he] now has to sleep with
the light on, he has to have the television
on, he has to know that his teddies are
either side of him. And this is at home,
you, know, it’s just a nightmare...the
nervous breakdown came first because I’m
absolutely wracked with guilt…. I say that
with my hand on my heart, because I can’t
function properly… I sit there and I think
that man, what he’s done. What he’s done
to other people… if you’ve got children you
know that gut feeling that you get”
September 2013
This mother told us her frustrations and
anger in the lack of prosecution in the
crime her son had experienced, and her
great concern that people with disabilities
will not have their cases progressed due to
being unable to be questioned in a formal
court setting.
“…but the CPS won’t prosecute him in
regard to [victim’s name] because he is not
able to withstand questioning in a witness
box. So because you’re disabled and you
can’t speak for yourself and you have a
learning disability, whatever happens to
you happens to you, and nothing gets
done.”
This victim also spoke of the initial positive
experience from the police but that there
was a complete lack of support offered to
her and her son and the long term effect
this has had on their family.
“…they were friendly, but friendly and
helpful are two different things… the liaison
officer said if you’ve got any problems
with this, if you’ve got any problems with
that, call me. And I did to start with, but
then I started calling and, not available,
they’ll call you back. And then you need to
speak to so and so now. And it, it seemed
to be going all over the place. And all of a
sudden I didn’t know where I was and who
I was talking to. But not once was I ever
offered victim support for myself and [my
son], which is why, had either of us been
given some support, I probably wouldn’t
have had my nervous breakdown… I let
him down. And that haunts me, if that
makes sense. And nobody has ever said,
you know, d’you want to talk.”
Working with diverse
communities
Black and minority ethnic (BME)
communities represent around 14% of
the population in Northamptonshire
concentrated in Northampton,
Wellingborough and Corby. Victims and
witnesses in these communities tend
to report higher levels of dissatisfaction
with the support they receive from the
police and support agencies and often
describe a lack of following through on
reported crime, particularly anti-social
behaviour and issues they feel represent
hate crime. There is sometimes confusion
or disagreement between victims and
authorities about whether crimes should
be categorised as hate crimes.
The Northamptonshire Rights and Equality
Council informed us that:
“Many people who have had a poor
experience of reporting hate crime (no
action being taken or being made to feel
that they are ‘the problem’ when they
do report issues) will not do so again.
When this takes place situations can often
become messy with victims sometimes
becoming perpetrators and perpetrators
becoming victims...agencies find this very
difficult to deal with...”
“There are differences in support in
different parts of the County. It seems
wholly dependent on the individual officer
dealing with the issue and their awareness
and sensitivity to the issues surrounding
hate crime. One incident reported to
the police that took place in a school in
Wellingborough merited a call to see if
officers could engage with the victim and
offer support, another case in Kettering
which a parent reported in a school
resulted in the parent being advised that
no action could be taken as it was in a
school.”
“The fact that the overwhelming majority
of hate crimes are racially and religiously
motivated crime make this kind of hate
crime an intensive area of activity. Poor
experiences in some areas of the county of
the management of hate incidents and the
absence of bringing perpetrators to justice
discourage victims from coming forward.
We believe that this is particularly the
case amongst taxi and private hire vehicle
operators in Northampton.”
Agencies working in and around
justice should seek to develop more
positive working relationships with
black and minority ethnic communities
and recognise the importance of
understanding the leadership structures
within them. Faith community leaders
are influential, often have deep roots in
their communities and can help facilitate
constructive communication between
criminal justice agencies and victims and
witnesses.
More work should be done to fully
understand the differences between
communities and address some of the
tensions within them. For example; one
individual working in the voluntary sector
said more work is needed to help:
“certain faith groups to accept LGBT
[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender]
groups, needs to be two way, there is a
real barrier to working together.”
Other organisations describe the
importance of working with community
members to encourage them to work
with their friends, neighbours and family
members to increase confidence in
reporting of crime. A women’s Muslim
group is used as an example of a positive
way to break down these types of barriers.
“a lady wearing a full face veil. She is very
reluctant to report. A lot of her friends have
experienced the same”.
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48 | Fairness and Diversity
Language barriers/
communication methods
Victims describe the difficulty of contacting
services and arranging help when speaking
English is challenging. Two victims of
domestic violence describe this:
“I got problem because I can’t explain
what I have got problem but I speak slowly
slowly so they understand me. I speak
English little bit little bit, then after they
understand me. They [Women’s Aid] ring
taxi for me, they ring hotel because I don’t
know how to ring. They ring hotel because
they haven’t got place in Women’s Aid…in
Women’s Aid everyone speaking in English
but they really helpful…they haven’t got
staff in our language Gujarati but they
understand our position, they fill forms for
us, they start my benefit and everything.”
“I told [police] lots of information, they
totally ignore that…they went to do what
my ex want to do. They favour him instead
of the victim…He took children to police
station and tell that Mum has hurt him.
One, it’s not true… but again, at that time
my English was not right…No I did not get
offered language line and honest with
you now if someone needs translation in
Italian, I will offer, I will volunteer because
I put my feet in these people’s feet. When
you need help with the language and no
one is there…”
Future work needed
We have been able to identify some of
the diverse needs and expectations of
communities within Northamptonshire
but we feel that we have only touched the
surface in this area. It is important that
organisations working in and around the
criminal justice system are committed to
meeting the needs of diverse communities
in the county and the focus should now be
on how this should be done.
“…they were friendly, but friendly and helpful
are two different things… the liaison officer said
if you’ve got any problems with this, if you’ve
got any problems with that, call me. And I did
to start with, but then I started calling and,
not available, they’ll call you back. And then
you need to speak to so and so now. And it, it
seemed to be going all over the place. And all
of a sudden I didn’t know where I was and who
I was talking to. But not once was I ever offered
victim support for myself and [my son], which is
why, had either of us been given some support,
I probably wouldn’t have had my nervous
breakdown… I let him down. And that haunts
me, if that makes sense. And nobody has ever
said, you know, d’you want to talk.”
September 2013
Recommendations
•Victims and Witnesses need the reassurance that the principles of fairness and
diversity will be taken seriously and treated with respect by the police when they
investigate crime. The police and support agencies should consider how to further
increase the knowledge and experience of their staff so they can demonstrate
transparency in their working practices and work sensitively and effectively with
diverse communities.
•The police should identify at an early stage where a victim or witness does not speak
English as their first language, and ensure translation services are provided to ensure
the victim or witness is fully able to communicate the issues or crimes they are
experiencing
•The police should ensure that all new and established officers and staff are sufficiently
trained in the Keep Safe Card scheme, for the police to act as advocates for this
scheme, and to ensure people with learning disabilities are involved in this training.
•Consistent and specialist advice and support should be provided for vulnerable victims
including victims with disabilities and their families.
•Black and Minority Ethnic communities consistently report dissatisfaction with how
their concerns are dealt with by the police. The Police and Crime Commissioner should
consider how their voices are heard and ensure this information is acted upon.
•The Police should actively engage with organisations, faith leaders and the
Northampton Rights and Equality Council, which support Black and Ethnic Minority
communities and consider how a more collaborative and mutually accountable
working relationship could be developed to improve outcomes for victims and
witnesses in the future.
•There are examples of excellent police engagement with BME communities. This needs
to be scaled up and mainstreamed across the county. To achieve this, greater priority
should be given to comprehensive diversity, race and cultural awareness training for all
police staff.
| 49
50 |
September 2013
Impact
“Devastating doesn’t even cover it. My
whole world turned upside down and
things will never be the same again. A guy
doesn’t check his mirror and bang, in that
second a family is destroyed. How do you
get your head around that phone call?
Come to the hospital and say goodbye to
your Dad. He died just before I got there.”
A witness describes the impact the
collision had on her;
“It was very sad for the guy who was
driving the car who was hit and very
seriously hurt, and the drunk driver was
a horrible man and it was all such a mess.
Made me very aware of things on the road
and quite fearful of driving for a while,
realising what impact others can have.”
Roads Victims
Missed or forgotten
Victims of road collisions whose loved
ones have been violently killed or who
have suffered serious and life-changing
injuries are not recognised in the same
way as victims of murder, violence or even
burglary in some cases. This means that
whilst other victims are automatically
offered face-to-face and telephone
support, offering advice, information
and emotional support, victims of road
collisions are often left to cope alone with
the sudden and tragic aftermath that
follows. Many collisions are not followed
by criminal prosecution, either because no
crime occurred, or because someone who
committed a crime was killed. Many crash
victims fall through the cracks and do not
get the support they need.
Road victims in Northamptonshire receive
a pack of information, which includes
details about national organisations which
offer limited support services through a
helpline and support groups which are run
in specific areas of the country. This means
road victims in Northamptonshire are likely
to have to travel to London or Birmingham
to receive face-to-face support and will
have to organise this themselves.
“We received a booklet produced by Brake
from Northamptonshire Police and had
to put in place our own bereavement
support.”
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52 | Roads Victims
Victims feel frustration and annoyance at
a system which categorises them in ways
which mean very little to them, particularly
in those first traumatic times where shock,
despair and upset make understanding the
system very difficult.
It remains that the only support
automatically offered to all bereaved
road collision victims is Brake’s packs, and
there is no automatic offer of support for
serious injury victims at all. So there is
no access to the help they need from the
outset, and then the right support over
the months perhaps years that follow, as
appropriate to their needs. Many victims
find themselves lost and bewildered, not
knowing which way to turn.
“The impact of losing our son has had
huge emotional consequences for all our
family and continues to affect our lives
and relationships.”
“Parents rarely recover”
“Serious financial problems and
inconvenience as she needed the car to
travel to college and work. At the time,
we only had limited bus service that suited
neither college or part-time work. More
distress as the car was a Christmas present
from her mother. Fury because the police
refused to attend! I insisted they did on
the following day”
Offers of support services tend to be
provided or focussed towards a bereaved
spouse. But children or other family
members that may have very close
relationships with the bereaved or could
even have been involved or witnessed the
collision are often excluded and receive
little or no support.
“I had to collect the death certificate, and
take it everywhere, it’s surprising, I guess
being young and never having anyone
close to me die, how many people and
places you have to take it. I had to go to
the bank, and close his account, move
money, speak to the insurance people.
My Mum couldn’t face doing anything,
because you have to say the words over
and over again, ‘he died’. I didn’t know
what I was doing, just every time I went
somewhere to sort something out they’d
say, sorry but you need this certificate or
sorry, but you need the coroner’s report to
do that… All the information about what
was happening was going to Mum, but she
wasn’t the one sorting everything out, and
I couldn’t exactly ask her, do you know who
else I need to send a copy of this death
certificate to?”
“Recognition of wider family members and
others directly impacted is needed”
“Our family was completely shaken by it,
losing him has changed everything, my
Mum still feels her life is empty without
him, and we, the kids, battle through
really just to keep her going. I don’t really
remember the first two years because I
was just on auto-drive trying to keep her
alive. It’s only now that my friends tell me
that I didn’t do anything then, I didn’t go
out, I didn’t go on holiday, I tried to be
home all the time to look after her”
Family Liaison Officers
and the justice process
Victim experiences of family liaison officers
are positive. They are immediately on the
scene, specially trained to interpret police
jargon into information and explanations
that victims and families can understand.
In the first few weeks and months victims
tend to describe family liaison officers
as vitally important to them, providing
emotional support as well as explaining
investigations into the road collision and
proceedings.
“I was extremely impressed with the care
and understanding we received from
our police family liaison officer and his
colleagues in the collision investigation
team. We were offered support and
everything was done to answer our
questions about the details of the accident
in a sympathetic and caring manner. They
also provided ongoing help and advice
leading up to the Inquest and accompanied
and supported us in court. The service we
received was excellent and exceeded my
expectations.”
“The police were nice and calming in the
first instance”
“The family liaison officer was great, he
arrived at the hospital, and stayed with
us for five or six hours, answering our
questions, all night, drove us home at
6 o’clock in the morning. Said if you need
anything, anything at all just ring”
“He organised for the road to be closed so
we could see what happened, he explained
it to us, showed us what happened and
where, why the other driver was there and
how he made the mistake he did. I didn’t
understand how he could have travelled
so far, from the initial collision, that was
painful to see. But really helpful. The police
officer explained it to me over and over
bless him, kept repeating ‘but he wouldn’t
have felt anything, adrenaline is a powerful
thing, he honestly wouldn’t have felt a
thing”
However, the role of family liaison officers
is often misunderstood, by both victims
and the wider justice system. They work
for the police, their role is primarily
investigative and whilst they liaise and
explain what is happening to the victim
and their family during this time, once
the investigation is over, technically their
liaison with the family is complete. Whilst
many officers continue to support victims
through the rest of the justice process,
attending court with them and continuing
to make supportive phone calls, this is
not within the remit of the family liaison
officer role and it can become difficult to
manage with the rest of their workload.
Victims describe not feeling prepared
for things that happen during the justice
process and still having questions. This
suggests that more can be done to explain
and support victims going through often
complex road collision court cases. As the
descriptions below suggest, more needs
to be done for victims of road collisions,
to help them understand the process, the
decision-making and what to expect.
“Our only contact was with the Coroner.
We expected a thorough investigation
that was reviewed at the Inquest to
ensure lessons were learned and future
deaths were avoided. We were extremely
disappointed by the level of disclosure we
received from the police and the Coroner
before the Inquest, this made the Inquest
very difficult for us and left us with lots of
unanswered questions.”
September 2013
“We knew he was denying it, but the police
were confident from the forensics and the
reconstruction of the scene that he couldn’t
get away with it. It was his mistake. So
we finally got the Inquest done and the
Coroner’s report, so we could organise the
funeral. Out of nowhere the guy decides
he wants his own Inquest done because he
doesn’t believe the first result, that he died
from multiple organ failure. How exactly
you can dispute that I don’t know, and why
he thought the Inquest done for us could be
biased in any way baffles me. It’s horrible
that the man who caused his death has the
right to have his body opened up again,
when we just wanted to put him to rest.
So because he waited until the last minute
to make his decision and request a second
Inquest, we had to cancel the funeral
arrangements and rearrange. We wouldn’t
have organised everything and told all the
family if we’d known we might have to ring
them all again to cancel it. It was a month
before we could bury him, and we had
family travelling from across the country.”
“A £250 fine and six points for making a
mistake that took a life. I didn’t want him
to go to prison, but maybe take his license
away for a year or two; make his life a
little bit difficult, considering that he had
changed ours forever.”
Communication
Witnesses of road traffic collisions, who
are sometimes impacted quite significantly
by the experience and feel a real sense
of civic duty in ensuring they do their bit
to ‘get justice done’ for the victim, tell us
that they are not treated particularly well
and communication about court dates
and expectations of them is very poor.
Witnesses are vital to the justice process
and something needs to change to show
that they are valued, to treat them fairly
and encourage them to continue to
support and participate in criminal justice.
“[I expected] they would make sure I
could be in court to testify that the driver
was drunk. Once they took the statement
from me I never heard from them again.
Thought they would have let me know
what was happening.”
“Let me know what’s happening, I am
none the wiser about the court system and
I am disappointed that the guy might have
got away with it when he was clearly very
drunk. I don’t even know if the guy who
was hurt survived, and it was definitely
the other drivers fault”
“A £250 fine and six points for making a
mistake that took a life. I didn’t want him to go
to prison, but maybe take his license away for
a year or two; make his life a little bit difficult,
considering that he had changed ours forever.”
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54 | Roads Victims
Recommendations
•The understanding of victimisation in respect of serious road collisions and particularly
road deaths should be broadened to encompass a greater breadth of family members
and others directly impacted.
•Specialist victim support services should be commissioned to enhance the support
available to those impacted by road deaths, with a particular recognition of the need
for support over the long-term, and beyond the period when the case is active in
respect of both criminal or Coroner’s courts.
•Support services should be extended to those who have witnessed serious and fatal
collisions, recognising the need both for support through related court process and for
support in respect of the emotional and other trauma involved.
•The police should review the role of the family liaison officer. These police officers
are highly praised by many victims and clearly do a committed job, but there are
sometimes ambiguities between a role as supporter of the investigation and a role as
supporter of the victim, and options may be considered in terms of greater recognition,
support and training for those who undertake the role.
•The engagement of victims of serious road collisions and those bereaved in respect
of road deaths was quite limited in respect of this Victim’s Voice project. Specific
engagement should be undertaken with people who have been victimised as a result of
road deaths and serious road collisions, to better understand their experience in detail
and to help design services that better meet their needs
September 2013
Impact
When we spoke to young people they
told us about their experiences and how
they had become victims of crime;
“Had my purse stolen.”
“I got repeatedly beaten up and had my
things stolen.”
“Car accident.”
“Bullying and cyber bullying. It has never
stopped. It is on going every day for
years.”
“A man with mental health issues
attacked me.”
“I was assaulted for a bottle of coke.”
Young Victims
“I was assaulted one day on my way
home from school by a group of girls
considerably older than me.”
“I got jumped.”
“I was spat on and threatened.”
Over half of the young people we spoke
to described feelings of fear, anxiety
and sadness about their victimisation.
Many young victims talk about paranoia
and worry, feelings of vulnerability and
anger. Changes to day to day behaviour
predominantly involved avoidance of
specific places and people, which several
young victims explained ‘affected my
normal routine’.
Under-reporting
Most young people share concerns of
reporting crime to the police, for worries
that it would affect their reputation
amongst their friends as being ‘a grass’,
feeling that the incident needs to be of a
serious enough nature so as not to ‘waste’
police time or for fear of repercussions
from the offender or friends of the
offender.
“I wouldn’t tell the police… Because
I’m not a snitch. And because you know,
they’re probably going to kill you if
you do.”
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56 | Young Victims
“I know like Service Six and stuff, like it’s
safeguarding isn’t it, so they still have to
tell people. I know it’s for my own safety,
but it’s, I wouldn’t tell no one. Maybe a
friend. Someone I trust.”
“Some of us find the police really
intimidating, the whole system of
reporting crime, sometimes that whole
questioning thing makes you feel as
if you’re being questioned. Perhaps a
little bit more training needs to go into
the officers who are actually asking the
questions.”
Descriptions of the police as ‘intimidating’
and the process as ‘scary’ are common
theme amongst young victims; however
these fears tend to be dispelled once
they meet with police officers face-toface. Where young people talk about the
seriousness of crimes or incidents, they
either describe the concern of wasting
police time, or often make assumptions
that nothing will be done.
“I would report more if I thought
something was going to be done and it
wasn’t going to be just left. ‘Cause if it’s
just left then it’s a waste of time. I feel
like if I knew the police officer or the PCSO
who like talk to you, and know you by
name … I think they would care about you
more if they knew who you were, like I tell
my youth worker stuff and she tells the
PCSO and that’s ok.”
Young victims speak positively about
youth workers and feeling able to share
experiences with them. Many young
people talk about bullying, harassment
and intimidation from other groups
of young people and wishing to tell
the police because it is ‘not serious
enough’ and they are ‘busy with real
stuff’. However, telling youth workers is
described as ok, because ‘that’s their job’.
“Because like youth workers care, they
would actually help you, like your Mum
would, like youth workers care, they
wouldn’t just push you aside because
they actually give a damn about you …
they are like trained as well, specifically
for young people whereas police are only
really trained for adults. They don’t really
come across as someone you would want
to go and talk to. Youth workers, and
your parents and that, you would just
automatically go to, for support and stuff,
because that’s their job.”
“They are too busy with serious stuff.”
“Teachers told me I did not have a strong
enough argument to get the police
involved and that I should not bother
contacting them because the school
would sort it.”
Some young people, particularly in
relation to bullying, harassment and
violence, explain that it is their fear of
their victimisation getting worse if they
report to the police or the school that
prevents them from doing so.
“Too scared it would get worse.”
“I became terrified of teenagers.”
Tailored support
Young victims often prefer to turn to
parents and friends for support, advice
and to talk through the impact of
their victimisation. However, the vast
majority of the young victims we spoke
with do not know about any support
services they could have been in touch
with such as Victim Support or local
charities. This is consistent with research
findings internationally, where young
victims rarely know about or use the
organisations or groups in their local
communities that could provide support,
advice or counselling. The reasons for
this appear to be simply that they are not
referred effectively by the police or other
organisations dealing with them.
A third of the young victims we spoke to
had not reported their incident to the
police, for the reasons described above,
which means there needs to be support
available and accessible to young people
who are not in contact with the police.
Support services need to be better
targeted to specific age groups, using
tailored communication which does not
require the young person to necessarily
identify themselves as a ‘victim’.
Research suggests that better
engagement of support services and
criminal justice agencies at a young age
reduces the likelihood of participation
in crime or anti-social behaviour in
adulthood.
“Well in the short term I mean, they like
viciously attacked me so at one point I
was eating liquid food for three weeks.
But I’d say even now I have a massive
fear of moving and meeting new people,
there’s the fear that it’s going to happen
again, that they are going to like, hate
me for no apparent reason and that’s
going to happen again. So, obviously it’s
better, because I have JAM in the Hood an
they’ve just helped me to get past that a
little bit, but there’s still that part of me
that’s in the back of my head that I don’t
think is ever, ever, I don’t think I’ll ever get
rid of it. But it’s something that I’ve learnt
to manage more than anything.”
“I mean it got to the point where I was
scared to sleep alone, ‘cause my room is
like right next to the front door where it
all happened, I was scared to walk alone
at night. So I wouldn’t, report any other
crime to the police because of how serious
it was and they didn’t really follow up on
it. I wouldn’t personally go to the police, I
would rather report to someone else.”
One young victim described her
experience of Victim Support and
suggests that the service is not designed
to understand what individuals need.
“I’ve dealt with them like three times over
the last few months and they’ve done
nothing apart from patronise you and
like, I have gone to three different people
because I felt uncomfortable the first
time, ‘cause she was just darn rude, the
second person didn’t do anything and the
third person did bugger all, because they
think they are going to be your friend.
They tell you all the sweet things under
the sun, and you just don’t wanna hear it.
You don’t want to make friends, you just
want to get your stuff sorted.”
September 2013
“I went through, like a hate campaign
against me at college and stuff, like
people telling me to kill myself all over
facebook. The police got involved and
they told me to get in touch with victim
support and they’re like, they don’t need
to say this and they don’t need to say
that, but you’re like shut up you’re not
living it. And they just think they are
going to tell you what you want to hear,
but that’s not what you want to hear…
Ask what the person wants from it. Just
strategies, obviously it’s still happening,
but I just block it out now, but they could
have stopped that. I could have been, I
could have just been carrying on with my
life, if they’d told me from the off, ways to
help me, but they didn’t.”
When young victims talk about positive
experiences of help and support they
often refer to their youth workers, or
leaders in youth action teams such as
Groundwork and Service Six and one
young victim spoke to a mentor
organised through her church.
“She’s real, and that’s why I like her.
Like I have respect for her and she has
respect for me.
“She’ll tell you stuff when it’s relevant,
and if she feels comfortable she’ll tell me
stuff about her as well, so it’s like, level,
so I know stuff about her and she knows
stuff about me and it’s like level, and she’ll
always tell me if she has to tell someone,
like if she needs to tell someone, she’ll
say this is what I’m going to do and I’ll
get back to you and be completely honest
with me about it.”
The significance of
parents and carers
Parents and carers play a very important
role in the decisions made to report
victimisation to the police, primarily
through advising and influencing based
on their views of the severity of the
incident or their fear of the impact of
the justice process causing more harm
to their children. Similarly, they play a
significant role in the choice of the young
victim to attend court. There appears
a lack of clarity about how to manage
the influence of parents and carers,
particularly where their preferences may
differ from the young victim who may
wish to attend court and participate in the
full justice process.
Parents and carers can in some cases
be a barrier to communication from
agencies to young victims, through failure
to pass messages on, such as progress
updates and formal case closures. Young
people often describe this as their
parents forgetting, not wishing to bring
it up for them again or not realising the
importance of that information for them
and their ability to put the experience
behind them. Whilst parents and carers
are regularly described as playing a key
role in providing support, young victims
emphasise the importance of the criminal
justice system communicating and dealing
with them directly, which is an important
factor in their feeling that they are being
taken seriously.
“I would have liked to go, to go to court,
but my Mum wouldn’t let me”
“I saw a hit and run years ago and we
got a letter through asking if I could go to
court and my Mum said I wasn’t allowed
… because if the people got out and
something happened to me…”
“Because, if that person comes out
and does something to you, I wouldn’t be
able to report it, because they might do
it again”
“Because my mum didn’t want to dwell on
it any further and wanted to forget it all.”
“I wasn’t really sure. I didn’t really want
to get the police involved, however, my
parents forced me.”
Communication and
organisation responses
Similar to the views of adult victims, lack
of information or communication about
the progression of a case or the closure
of a case impacts young victims’ ability
to move on. Young people describe the
need for agencies to use different and
modern ways of communicating with
them, instead of only sending letters
which can be intercepted by others in the
household.
Most young people have positive
experiences of the police recording
their crime, taking their statements and
initial actions, usually related to specific
officer behaviours such as being friendly,
talking to them as an adult and taking
them seriously. Officers being able to
communicate with young victims in a way
which left them with these positive views
is important; broader research suggests
these interactions with policing at a young
age will shape their relationship with
authorities in adulthood.
“They listened to me, did not interrupt
or judge”
“Yes, because they understood how
not every teenager fitted the general
stereotype”
“It was polite and well mannered and
gave me detailed options of what I could
do”
Most young victims who do not describe
their experience or expectations of the
police positively, had no response from
the police or did not receive any kind
of service after reporting a crime and
therefore have very little information to
generate an opinion.
Some young victims talk about being
treated like an offender by police officers
and others in the justice system. Also
feeling judged based on their status as a
teenager, particularly where victimisation
includes robbery or violence in places
associated with anti-social behaviour
such as outside of shops. Some young
victims describe their experience of
police stereotyping them and making
presumptions that their own behaviour
played a role in their victimisation, making
them feel as though it was at least in part
self-inflicted.
“They could have been more trusting
in what I said and checked the CCTV
footage to see the incident before it
was removed.”
| 57
58 | Young Victims
“They could have arrested the accomplice
for obstruction of justice and let me see
the school year photos of the schools in
the area so I could point out the attackers.
I wasn’t allowed because they had to
protect the criminal.”
“Could have kept me updated, told me
they are still looking. Should have been
politer, felt judged.”
Where schools are involved, young
victims tend to feel that little was done
to investigate or explore what happened,
to stop on-going bullying or to help them
report to the police. One victim described
being persuaded by the school not to
report it to the police as little could be
done about it. Another victim described
the school support system as difficult
and did not receive any other types of
support.
“Nothing … the school failed to stop it
or protect me”
“Teachers and the school support system
are making me feel lower than the bullies
themselves, tried to end my life, self harm,
regular smoking, change of personality …
this was a long term effect”
Perceptions of justice
Young people’s perceptions of the wider
court and criminal justice process tend
to reflect negative experiences of staff in
these agencies showing a lack of empathy
and making decisions without the direct
input of the young victim.
Young victims may receive a ‘community
resolution’ where the offender admits
guilt, which can be letters of apology,
meetings with the offender or actions
taken by the offender to rectify some
of the impact of their behaviour. Whilst
wider national research shows positive
experiences of community resolutions in
terms of victim satisfaction and reducing
reoffending, we heard more negative
reflections of this process than positive
ones. Young victims often felt that the
letters of apology were poorly written,
feeling that the little effort put into it
reflects the attitude of the offender
towards to the process.
Some felt that a letter was simply not
enough to make up for the experience
of being victimised, from theft of mobile
phones through to violence with physical
injury. Others report that whilst they
have been told their case will receive a
community resolution, several months
on they have not yet received a letter, an
apology or meeting with the offender.
Whilst these cases are left unresolved for
the victims, they appear to be closed for
the police.
Where meetings with offenders do occur,
victims sometimes feel their apologies
are not meaningful and that the process
is not taken seriously, which can be very
difficult to deal with and can lead to
further feelings of vulnerability.
Witnesses
Young witnesses share concerns
about being judged or stereotyped as
‘troublesome’ and being associated
with the offender or the offence. This
is particularly so in cases where groups
of young people are involved or were
present, such as fights between young
people and acts of vandalism. Similar to
young victims, fear of the repercussions
of reporting a crime and going to court
to give evidence against the offender
are often strong enough to deter young
witnesses from speaking up. Again,
the label ‘grass’ is used regularly as a
derogatory term towards those that do
report crime or offenders to the police or
other organisations.
“But I feel like they treat witnesses as
offenders as well, they speak to you
how they speak to someone who has
committed an offence … like I get judged
when my brother’s gone wrong, like for
their mistakes, they judge me and all
my family and all my other brothers and
sisters for it and they shouldn’t do that.”
“You just don’t be a grass. If you go to
court and stand up and then they get
away scot-free and then… It’s just how
you’ve been brought up as well, you just
don’t be a grass…”
“…the police only got involved once when
me and my sister called the police because
we were scared my Dad was going to kill
my Mum so when the police came, like my
Mum tried to cover it up like nothing had
happened ‘cause my Mum was scared
what was going to happen to me, my
sister and my brother so the police they
like took it as maybe like a false alarm.”
“I would have liked to go, to go to court,
but my Mum wouldn’t let me”
“I saw a hit and run years ago and we got a
letter through asking if I could go to court and
my Mum said I wasn’t allowed … because if
the people got out and something happened
to me…”
September 2013
Recommendations
•A new child victim and witness programme should be developed, to create services
designed around the specific needs of younger victims.
•The criminal justice system as a whole has a history of tending to see young people as
a problem, as criminals and perpetrators of anti-social behaviour. The reality is many
young people are victims, and most young people make a positive impact in their local
communities. Consideration should be given by all criminal justice agencies to training
and development programmes that change this thinking in respect of young people,
and also to improve officer and staff training in how to engage positively with young
people, helping to see the world through their eyes. Young people should be positively
engaged in developing these new models of training.
•A large-scale exercise to build the confidence of young people in the police and criminal
justice system should be undertaken, to raise the confidence of young people to report
crimes. Young people should be directly engaged in the development and delivery of
this.
•Support services for victims should be better advertised to young people, who often
have very low awareness, including consideration of options such as use of social
media.
•Consideration should be given by the police as to whether there are alternative models
that young people could use to report crime, as traditional ways of reporting (by
telephone or, at police station front counters) may put many young people off. Many
young people would look for online reporting as an option.
•Restorative practices should be developed in schools to help combat bullying and build
positive models for conflict resolution, often long before a formal crime is committed.
•Options for the mentoring of young people should be further enhanced across the
county.
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60 |
September 2013
The police are often the victims and
witnesses first contact with the criminal
justice system. However, one in ten of
those that responded to our public survey
did not report the crime or incident to
the police. There are a variety of reasons
why victims choose not to report, largely
falling into two general categories; 1) that
it was too trivial or the police would not
take it seriously, and; 2) lack of confidence
in the police and criminal justice system,
including previous experiences of
contacting the police and fear of reprisals;
Service Experience
Police
“Drove to…[roadside] services [at] 8pm
on weekday with my baby. Drive through
McDonalds; a red car was parked with two
white young males inside… It followed me
out, speeding up behind me,… the driver
was shouting abuse, followed me back…,
swearing with fingers as the car overtook.
No need for it. Horrible. [I was] in shock for
a while, scared to go out, always alert and
aware. Really upsets you.”
But she didn’t report this because;
“[I] didn’t think it was important enough.”
A victim of an assault who had challenged
their assailant who had been insulting
other people explains;
“[It was a] fairly minor incident and
commonplace in town in the early hours
of the morning on a Friday or Saturday
so didn’t think it was worth it. Not much
confidence in anything being done about
it anyway. Would much rather have had a
chance to hit him back.”
Another victim whose house was
vandalised says they did not report it
because;
“They [the police] appear far too busy and
would not have taken the time to follow up
or try to find the culprit.”
Another who witnessed a fight and
children throwing stones at cars explains;
“Police take too long to come – or they say
not urgent.”
Someone who was propositioned for sex
along a busy street told us she did not
report it because;
| 61
62 | Service Experience
Police
“I didn’t think I would have been taken
seriously.”
Someone tried to break into the house of
another victim who lives alone with their
young child. This was reported later, but
not at the time because;
“…I knew they [the police] wouldn’t be
bothered by it.”
Victims and witnesses describe a range
of expectations of policing, but there is
general consensus that they expect “a
prompt response when needed” and
for the crime or incident to be properly
investigated initially or resolve the problem
itself and, most importantly, to be “on the
side of the public”.
The initial contact with the police is crucial.
The service that victims and witnesses
receive from that first contact helps set
the tone for their experiences of and
confidence in the criminal justice system
and expectations of other agencies.
One burglary victim told us about their
experience;
“…it did leave me feeling quite anxious
about leaving the house… for sometime
and it wasn’t something that I was
particularly conscious of, but when I
left the house and I was away I used to
become anxious about getting back.
…in terms of the service I had from police
and police staff it was amazing. People
were fabulous. The police officer was on
the scene very quickly… [and] they put
the resource into chasing these people
and catching them. …I’ve always been
a supporter because I understand the
difficulties police have with resources and
with the work that they do… I get quite fed
up of people banging on about how useless
the police are … What it [response to the
burglary] has done is reinforce my belief [in
the police].
Beyond the initial response, some expect
to be kept informed of developments.
A victim of burglary told us;
“The police service is usually very good in
our area and following a garage burglary
some years ago they were excellent having
apprehended the burglars who were
subsequently convicted. I realise that it
is difficult to catch and convict burglars
without evidence but I would always
expect communication from the police
following a crime that affects me, my
family or my property.”
From the victims and witnesses we heard
from, just over half had their expectations
met. This does not necessarily mean that
they received a good service as some
expectations were not very high. The range
of experiences that victims and witnesses
have of how they are treated by police
officers and staff and the service they
receive is as broad as the expectations
they have.
There is an assumption the police will
respond immediately and resolve the
problem straight away. This cannot always
happen. A rural business that experienced
the theft of farm equipment recognises
that there cannot be police officers on
every street corner, but expects more to
be done with the information that they
provide to help the police reduce the
chances of the business becoming a victim
again:
“We have a pragmatic attitude,
recognising that policing rural areas
where the crime rate is for the most part
low results in us having a relatively low
priority. We register all incidents with
the police and contribute in so far as we
can to their accumulation of evidence in
the expectation that in due course that
evidence will provide worthwhile leads.
We don’t expect instant results but,
do expect the intelligent accumulation
and interpretation of the information
gathered.”
What should always be achievable is that
the police officer or member of police
staff in contact with the victim or witness
act professionally and that victims and
witnesses are treated with courtesy,
respect and empathy, regardless of who it
is and how serious a police officer thinks
the crime is. People are often at their
most vulnerable and confused when they
become a victim or witness. For some it is
a traumatic experience that affects their
lives for days, months or years afterwards.
There will be some that never get over it. A
victim of burglary whose car was stolen as
a result told us:
“The police were very good, they were
good when I called 999 and the response
was quick and the officer that came to the
house actually had our car registration
written on his hand so we knew that they
had been looking for it. They were very
patient as well, it was right at the end of
the shift and I was probably a bit repetitive
in my statement as I was probably in
shock – he just let me talk and listened and
reassured at every opportunity.”
A victim of extreme domestic abuse told
us about their views about how the police
responded, albeit they remained sceptical
in the effectiveness of the rest of the
criminal justice system. They said;
“The police officers at all levels that I have
received support from since February 2009
have been superb, but my expectations
are that their hands are tied due to the
slowness of the ‘system’ and lack of
evidence. They have at all times been
professional and supportive, my son (as
a minor and a victim of child abuse) has
received every consideration”
When the police officer or member of
police staff are attentive to the victim
or witness and the crime or incident is
taken seriously, and when the victims
and witnesses are kept informed of
developments, their attitudes towards the
police and the criminal justice system are
much more positive.
Where there are positive experiences,
individual named officers are singled out
for praise. This demonstrates the value
of the personal approach and being able
to have someone to contact if needed.
A victim of sexual abuse describes their
positive experience with a particular
police officer;
September 2013
“I reported the crime to [named police
officer] from Weston Favell police. [The
officer] was very kind and patient. I
couldn’t have wished for a nicer policeman
to speak to. He kept me informed of
progress after I gave my statement until it
got handed over to [other police force].”
Two victims of burglary told us;
“Updated regular, empathy shown,
recommended to victim support if I felt I
needed contact.”
“They [the police] arrived very quickly,
were very professional and kept us up to
date on what was happening.”
There were also examples where those
with relatively low expectations expressed
to us how pleased they were with the
service they received. One victim of a
burglary to his home said;
“First time ever had anyone break into our
home, have had police contact over the
years when children’s bikes were stolen
etc. from the garden shed or garage,
so I guess I expected a crime reference
number and that would be it, but police
were considerate, listened and took note,
showed empathy.”
Another victim of burglary, whilst the
family were asleep in the house, told us;
“I was assaulted by a group of about 30
youths along with some neighbours. They
came from everywhere in our close and
smashed gardens and cars up as well as
myself and three other people.
I lost three teeth therefore I suffered cost,
pain and the rest of my life with no front
teeth.”
But, the response he received from the
police was not what he expected;
“I thought 999 was an emergency. It took
an hour for a car to arrive and then they
had sent one police lady. The ambulance
would not attend until youths cleared.”
Another witness of a violent assault said;
“I witnessed a male being attacked by
several other males. He was punched and
kicked to the ground and appeared to be
knocked out.
I was very concerned for the welfare for
the individual. I feared for my own safety
if I had intervened.
I was very upset and disappointed at the
police taking over 23 minutes to arrive! I
fully understand H&S [Health and Safety],
its implications, however the response was
very slow and very dissatisfactory.”
And a victim of a burglary told us;
“I was surprised that the scenes of crime
officers came to take finger prints and
foot prints. I didn’t realise how seriously
burglary is taken so I was reassured by that
measure.”
“My husband called the police whilst the
crime was in progress. He cornered the
offenders in the garden. One of them had a
knife which my husband took off him. The
police did not attend until the next day.”
When a basic standard of service is not
provided, it leaves victims or witnesses
feeling even more vulnerable and unlikely
to trust the police in the future. It can
mean that people are unable to come
to terms with being a victim or witness,
affecting their lives and having a knock-on
impact on family and friends and can stop
further crimes or incidents from being
reported.
The attitude of the police officer or
member of police staff that victims and
witnesses come into contact with is the
biggest complaint. This falls into three
broad categories; 1) not being listened to
or not being treated with courtesy and
respect; 2) officers making judgements
and the victim or witness feeling they are
not believed; and 3) the crime or incident
not being treated seriously and the impact
being minimised.
A prompt response to an emergency is
expected. Whilst there are experiences of
this happening, there are examples when
the response was slow and inadequate. A
victim told us his story:
A mother of a young person who had a
knife held to their throat feels that the
initial police response was good, she has
some concerns about how her son was
treated immediately afterwards and the
inappropriate attitude of some police
officers;
“They want to take [us] to the station and
get a statement from [young person]… we
felt… why do we have to go to the station
for this. What can’t this happen in the
home?
And I felt it was more for their benefit than
for ours. Because [the] reason for going to
the station was so that it could be typed up
onto the computer.
He [the officer] wasn’t very sensitive at
all… We were in a back room with a table,
couple of chairs a basic desk against the
wall and quite an old computer, and he’s
typing quite slowly with almost his back to
us… I guess you just get the feeling this is
what they do every day…
[Another officer] came in joking… this
really upset my son because he felt that he
was just really not taking it very seriously…
joking about how long our statement
was taking and thing like that which, just
wasn’t very appropriate.
…they sometimes forget… that these are
real people that they’re working with and
although it’s something they see all the
time… you know the police officer making
jokes … to them it might not be a very
serious crime, but to us this is the most
frightening and scary experience that
we’ve ever been through and to us it’s
very serious. … [So] I would say it probably
confirmed my views.”
Another victim told us about how they
were made to feel resulting in them giving
up;
“I was a victim of sexual assault/
attempted sexual assault. Not 100% sure
of what happened as I was intoxicated –
something I was honest with police about
from the beginning. I reported this just
over 48 hours after the incident. Police
worked quickly initially, however I do
not feel like my expectations were met/
managed correctly. This lead to me feeling
extremely disappointed/anxious during the
investigation. Five weeks into the
| 63
Police
investigation I decided to withdraw my
complaint due to how involvement with
the police had made me feel. There were a
couple of mistakes made by police, and the
way I was spoken to meant that I lost my
faith and wanted to move on in my own
way.
Officers I dealt with appeared busy and not
particularly bothered by my crime. I was
made promises, eg, call backs, visits and
updates that I did not receive. When my
CID team were off duty I could not get hold
of anyone. 101 number continued to ring
and ring with no answer.”
Another victim of rape said;
“[It] felt like the police men didn’t believe
me. I asked [for] female officers but was
told there wasn’t any.”
A young victim told us her story;
“A gang of teenagers came over to me and
my friend (aged 17 and 14) and without
reason punched me in the face, repeatedly
punched and kicked my friend until she was
unconscious, then smashed a large glass
bottle over my head – then left us for dead!
Firstly they tried blaming the attack on us,
saying we must have provoked them.”
A victim who described being continually
bullied and harassed over a long period of
time by a gang of children in their street
told us their expectation was;
“For the controller at 101 to give me time
to say what I want to say and not give me
her personal opinion i.e. ‘All children play
football in the street, we all did’.”
Someone else told us, with regards to the
handling of a victim of rape;
Very critical of the police, her youngest
daughter was the victim of a rape when
she was 18, the two officers who came to
the house a male and a female were not
specially trained in SV [sexual violence].
There were two suspects in the custody
suite and this mother thought that the
police wanted to release them. The WPC
[woman police constable] asked the victim
if it wasn’t some drunken romp that has
got out of hand. At this initial interview it
was mentioned that not many people
report rapes and of those that do the
conviction rate is really low.
Another victim, of what they describe as
anti-social behaviour where a bottle was
thrown at a door resulting in the glass
being broken, felt they became the ones
who were under investigation;
“I was in fact made to feel a criminal in
the incident as I had to be at the police
station for several hours and go through
identification and then the police took no
action… the officer on that night when the
lads [the offenders] came back again did
not do anything. I have had to install my
own security cameras at the property.”
Victims and witnesses emphasise the
importance of keeping them informed
of developments, particularly the result
of the investigation, whether an arrest
had been made or the offender had been
charged or released. A victim whose home
was burgled whilst they were at work
told us;
“The police kept us updated and also
confirmed once a person had been
arrested and later confirmed a date had
been reached for this person to appear
in court. Also empathy shown towards us
from the beginning of the incident and
recommended victim support.”
However, whilst there are a good deal of
positive experiences where people are
kept informed of developments, there
remains room for improvement. An elderly
victim told us her experience of being
conned out of her life savings and how
she had to make a complaint before she
received the service she expected from
the police;
“At first the police were not very helpful
when the case was allocated to an officer
who never even introduced herself to me
until I complained that I was not being
updated and there after another officer
was appointed and he has been good.
In my opinion it is helpful to know some
action is being taken.”
September 2013
Those working in and around the criminal
justice system overwhelmingly agree that
providing regular updates for victims and
witnesses is essential and a particular area
for improvement across organisations.
They also recognise that the standard of
service provided by some individual police
officers leaves a lot to be desired;
“… I would encourage anyone to report it
and the police do a good job... But then in my
experience it’s the custody sergeant who lets
it down because the police will do their job, go
out arrest him eventually, bring him in and the
custody sergeant right there’s no violence, just
give him bail. And that’s what happens time
and time and time again. And over Christmas
he was given bail like that about three times
and he still kept coming round my house.”
“Some police officers provide a very
good service to victims and witnesses,
keeping them updated and informed at
various stages of criminal proceedings and
updating them on the outcome of court
proceedings, other officers do not stay in
touch, the victim is left with long periods
of silence where they do not know what is
happening with the case and, in my view,
the most serious omission on the part
of many officers is promising to update
victims on the outcome of a criminal trial
but not doing so.
Therefore on the day of trial the victim
often does not know whether the
perpetrator has been remanded in custody
or is now back on the streets without bail
conditions or restraining order. The victim
therefore does not know whether they are
safe to stay in their own home or need to
flee to keep themselves and their children
safe. Police officers often keep witnesses/
victims “on side” up until the trial but as
soon as the verdict is given; they cease
contact with the victim and do not refer
them on to appropriate support services.”
It is important to note that most victims
and witnesses who have a named police
officer or member of police staff that they
can contact if they need to, describe more
positive experiences overall. It is intensely
frustrating for victims or witnesses without
a named officer to to get hold of the
right person or anyone who knows their
case. This results in them ‘getting lost in
the system’ adding to the trauma and
frustration of becoming a victim in the first
place. A mother of a young victim told us
she had;
“…spent a day crying on the phone trying
to get hold of somebody.”
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Police
When victims and witnesses are not kept
informed of what is happening, they
naturally presume that the police do not
care and are not doing anything about it.
They are left in limbo. A victim who was
being harassed by an ex-partner succinctly
told us;
“It has been a negative experience with the
service as I said there has been no update
on the crime.”
Another victim experiencing harassment
from an ex-partner told us;
“I expected them [the police] to do more
than they did in the beginning and also I
was told that they would be in touch with
me to update on the outcome as he had
to go to court about it as he broke the
restraining order and nobody has been
in touch with me since [which] I am very
disappointed in. I have contacted the police
again for an update they told me someone
would call me or write to me but no one
has.”
A victim of a burglary to their home whilst
they were sleeping resulting in possessions
and their cars being stolen told us what
had happened and what impact this had
and continues to have on their family;
“[It has had a] huge emotional impact
for my teenage daughter who heard the
burglars. She was very traumatised and
had to have counselling. We upgraded our
alarm system and put a panic button in her
bedroom. She did not sleep properly for
many months and could not be left in the
house especially at night. The impact on
her was long term.”
“After the initial visits from officers we
had very little contact and no updates
from them as to what was going on. My
car regularly pinged ANPR [automatic
number plate recognition] cameras in
Northampton and I got sent speeding fine
notices but the car was never picked up in
Northampton despite this.”
This experience can only be frustrating
for the victim who knows that their car
is being driven around the county with
apparent impunity and the speeding fine
notices become a regular reminder of
the crime.
Some of those who work in and around
the criminal justice system suggest a
separate ‘victims’ service’ to keep victims
and witnesses informed of the progress
of an investigation, providing a named
contact for the victim and witness and
improving consistency and quality of
service as well as reducing the burden on
officer time.
Being consulted on bail conditions is also
emphasises as important for victims. A
victim of repeat domestic abuse over a
period of seven years told us;
“… I would encourage anyone to report it
and the police do a good job... But then
in my experience it’s the custody sergeant
who lets it down because the police will
do their job, go out arrest him eventually,
bring him in and the custody sergeant right
there’s no violence, just give him bail. And
that’s what happens time and time and
time again. And over Christmas he was
given bail like that about three times and
he still kept coming round my house.”
This is supported by a number of people
who work with victims and witnesses who
feel that the views of, or impact on, the
victim are not taken into consideration
when charging or bail decisions are made.
A victim of domestic violence also told us:
“An entirely unpleasant and worrying time
was spent for a number of months whist
the accused was allowed to roam free
with apparent impunity, threatening all
witnesses and being arrested, and released
on bail immediately, when he did ‘step over
the line’. Not an experience to repeat.”
September 2013
Recommendations
Police
•The Police and Crime Commissioner should consider undertaking a scrutiny of the use
of Community Resolutions, where the police deal informally with offenders rather
than taking them to court. Some victims questions how thoroughly aspects of the
resolutions are carried out.
•The police need to explore how to shift culture to be more strongly victim-focused,
empathic, considerate of victims circumstances and needs, and more appreciative of
the perspective of victims.
•Some of the issues identified reflect a concern at the quality of supervision available to
front-line officers in dealing with cases. The police should develop models for delivering
consistently high quality supervision.
•The police should improve the provision of regular, accurate and well explained
updates in a method that is preferred by and agreed with the victim.
•The 101 number automatic call answering service currently provides options for callers
to choose from. At present none of these options offer ‘report a crime or incident’. This
should be changed to present as its the first option, the reporting of crime.
| 67
68 |
September 2013
Most victims and witnesses have
reasonable and realistic expectations
of the courts service. They expect a fair
hearing, swift and sure justice and they will
be supported throughout this process. One
victim of domestic abuse describes her
expectations of the court process;
“To listen attentively and take on board
[the] full facts to get justice for victims of
crime.”
Magistrates and court staff understand this
and see this as their role, but largely feel
their ability to do so is being eroded.
Service Experience
Courts and Crown Prosecution Service
For a number of victims and witnesses,
their attendance at court is a new
experience and they do not know
what to expect, are uninformed and
unprepared. A victim of historical sexual
abuse perpetrated by a number of family
members describes her experience
through the criminal justice system as;
“…[An] ordeal from start to finish…and
[a] frightening experience”
There is some disconnect between what
victims and witnesses want and what
magistrates think they want. From what
we heard, magistrates assume that all
victims want to have their day in court.
In some cases this is true and helps them
come to terms with what has happened
to them. But for others, what happens
in court cannot take away the pain or
trauma they have experienced. For some,
not having to give evidence where the
offender pleads guilty is a relief, as long as
they think the sentence is proportionate.
Whilst acknowledging that the court result
influences how people feel about the
court process and the service they feel
they received, just over half the people we
spoke to had their expectations met, but
a sizeable proportion did not. Experiences
of different victims and witnesses at
different times and in different courts
were markedly different and inconsistent.
One witness whose daughter experienced
harassment and threats to her safety feels
she was well prepared and supported:
| 69
“We had the chance to look round the
court, ask questions and were treated very
well. We travelled to the court in a taxi
and this was paid for, this helped to relieve
some of the stress.”
Others feel they were not kept informed
and unsupported. There were delays
that are not explained or poorly
communicated.
A victim of a burglary, who had her
jewellery stolen and melted down, told us:
“[The] solicitor acting for CPS [Crown
Prosecution Service] pretty much ignored
my presence at the Magistrates’ Court. The
perpetrator was advised that the case was
adjourned whilst I was sitting in front of
her and yet I had to repeatedly ask what
was happening.”
A person who witnessed an accident
caused by a drunk driver:
“They [the Crown Prosecution Service]
wrote to me asking me when I would be on
holiday and what days I could attend court,
so I was all prepared to go and made sure
I had everything written down so I could
remember the detail. Then I never heard
again. The driver is probably still out there,
must have got away with it”
People feel there is a lack of empathy
and they are not treated with respect or
consideration. At the very least victims
and witnesses, who are, to put it lightly,
confused, nervous and emotional must
be treated with respect that preserves
their dignity and sense of worth. It makes
all the difference. A victim whose son
was murdered and had a horrendous
experience throughout the criminal justice
process, told us:
“The judge was absolutely brilliant, I have
to say. And he thanked us for our dignity
and our respect of the court system and
everything else.”
But there are examples when victims
and witnesses have been ignored, poorly
treated, without consideration, and their
feelings disregarded. This forms their
confidence in the criminal justice system
working for them as victims and witnesses.
A victim of domestic abuse told us how her
experience in the courtroom affected
her confidence:
“[I] felt the barrister was not always
effective particularly when he and
defendants’ barrister were laughing
together over certain things said in court.”
A grandmother of a young person who had
been sexually abused told us about their
experience of the courtroom:
“The civil court man [judge] he actually
laughed. There was the bundle, with all like
numbers, he said can you look at this, there
was the [named doctor’s] report…a picture
of [named victim’s] bottom with this tear,
it was like…oh my God…the doctor give
me five diazepam tablets to keep me calm
during it all, ‘cause I got so upset…”
He [the Judge] said, ‘don’t start
getting emotional to try and sway
my judgement’…and I’d just seen my
grandsons…and I said I am not, I am not…”
And then when we was looking at it, his
barrister said, ‘so what’s your opinion on
[named doctor’s] report then…what is your
opinion?’ And I looking, thinking…I’m not…
I can’t…I’m not medical…
So our barrister said ‘I don’t think my
witness is medical’… And the judge,
and this is why the barrister is going to
complain as well, the judge went, ‘hee,
hee, hee [laughter]. Yes! I was quite
thinking that at the time’, he said, ‘what
an unusual question (laughing) how would
she possibly know’
And I looked at him, and I went ‘it’s not
funny’ and I knew, I just knew with his
attitude that he’d made his mind up… we
came out and I said, ‘He’s on his side.’
The court environment is also not
supportive of victims and witnesses
can leave them feeling exposed and
vulnerable. There is a lack of victim and
witness waiting areas. Even if there are
separate rooms, victims and witnesses
have to walk past defendants and their
families or friends in the corridor. The
same is true when they need to use any
of the court facilities, such as going to
the toilet or getting a drink. Victims and
witnesses understandably feel vulnerable
and are intimidated. Separate and
appropriate facilities should be available
to victims and witnesses.
A victim who had experienced years of
anti-social behaviour by neighbours,
including loud music being played, the wall
being kicked, eggs being thrown at the
house and being sworn at, said:
“…it’s fantastic that you get a little room
for the witnesses so that you’re not sort of
having to sit out with the people that you
have issues or whatever. But you still have
to run the gauntlet when you walk past
them, you know, there’s no screening or
anything to protect you…”
A witness to a serious assault by a number
of attackers described his experience:
“The incident itself did not have any impact
on me, however the process of going to
court did. As the incident was potentially
gang related I was extremely conscious
of the potential risks to myself of being
a witness. Many friends and colleagues
questioned whether, or not, it was wise of
me to even be a witness in court. Whilst
all of the services acted professionally,
the experience was not positive. On
attending the Northampton Crown Court
I went through the search procedure,
with minimal interaction from the ‘guard’,
who did not even ask why I was attending
or offer any support. I was then left to
wander, trying to find someone who could
help me. There was a desk with a sign
saying witness support however this was
unstaffed and I was reluctant to stand by
it and wait! Eventually I tracked someone
down who escorted me to the witness
area...walking through the area where
friends and family of the accused were
seated. A female, Asian witness to the
same incident was also present, she was
offered a screen to preserve some degree
of anonymity, I was not. I attended court
on two separate days and, ironically was
not called or needed in the end. I have no
problem in having given up time for the
process etc., however, I do have an issue
with the level of vulnerability I was put
in when, in my opinion, this was totally
avoidable with a little planning.”
September 2013
Another victim of domestic violence
told us about the process of requesting
screens:
“I asked…witness care unit if I was
allowed a screen because I didn’t want
to see him because I didn’t really want
to give evidence but I felt if I was to see
him I wouldn’t be able to do it so I wasn’t
guaranteed a screen. I was told…they’d
have to apply for it a month before the
court date…but I was told I won’t find out
until the week before…
It was bad enough the thought of having
to go to court to give evidence about it and
then I wasn’t guaranteed a screen and I
just broke down crying after.”
It is clear that the timeliness and quality
of special measures should be improved.
A study for the Crown Prosecution Service
suggests that the appropriateness of
special measures should be considered
in all cases. The use of video calling
technology, which is now inexpensive
and much more readily available, was
suggested by someone who works in the
criminal justice system. This would enable
victims and witnesses to give evidence
without the need to attend court at all and
minimise disruption to their lives.
It may also help with the stress itself of
giving evidence, which results in the victim
or witness having to re-live the experience.
A young victim of sexual abuse said:
“I’ve still got to get up in court and say it
all. I don’t understand why I should have
to do that when I’ve done hours and hours
of video evidence and I’m just going to
be getting up and saying the same thing,
but in front of loads of people and I don’t
particularly want to do that, it’s not the
easiest thing to talk about…
There is nothing they can ask me that they
don’t already know. So I don’t see why
I’ve got to say the exact same things all
over again in front of…twelve strangers
and then a Judge with someone asking
me questions…I don’t want to do it, I don’t
want to be put through that stress.
And during Uni I’m going to be missing
time off because I’m going to have to
have a whole week off during the court
case and be in Northampton…and they’re
[university] going to have to know why and
I didn’t want them to know about it.”
One victim of anti-social behaviour
who was in a dispute with a neighbour
expressed relief about not having to give
evidence in person:
“…she did a taped interview with us so she
get word perfect to save us the bother of
going to court and doing it face to face
with him so he couldn’t visually threaten
us.”
But staff working in and around the
criminal justice system told us they find
that the courts service is unwilling to
change. As an example, getting approval
for someone to be there for a victim in a
closed court is a real challenge. One said:
“There is a judicial wall.”
The time it takes for courts to progress
cases is a significant issue for victims and
witnesses. This is also recognised by the
magistrates and court staff we heard
from and, according to those who work
in and around the criminal justice system,
is something that requires significant
improvement.
A witness to a man abusing and
threatening two youths with a metal bar
describes the effect on him:
“The crime itself was on my mind for a
few days. The prolonged wait for a court
hearing as prosecution witness was worse.
I was very disturbed by my experience of
the court trial being postponed and am
unhappy that the matter drags on.”
A mother, whose daughters had been
sexually abused by her husband, and one
of her daughters told us their harrowing
experience, which has been made worse
by a series of adjournments and trials
being put back time and time again.
In their opinion, the court was overly
sympathetic to the person on trial, who
is manipulative and playing the system
with the hope that the victims would
decide not to give evidence. They feel he
is being allowed to get away with it and
his every whim granted, but the needs
and circumstances of the mother and
her daughters are not considered in the
slightest. They are unable to move on or
get the help they need and are at risk of
losing their home because of the delays
and lack of support:
“…he’s [the defendant] still pulling the
strings with his solicitor… The Judge put it
back two months…What these kids have to
go through…it’s heartbreaking.
So they put it back two months for God’s
sake…there was another trial date sorted…
something else happened, they put the
God damn trial back again. Comes to the
trial you’re shoved in…a room with no air
conditioning… just a fan that was crap…
Then we start hearing bit that, oh well it
might go ahead or it might not…
But his [the defendants] side has God damn
ample of opportunity to do bloody stuff
[following a request a further adjournment
to review evidence]. It’s just him prolonging
it, his solicitors prolonging it and then the
Judge bowing down to him, which I must
admit I did not like whatsoever, because
the trial date was set. We all got there,
people had weeks off of work to come and
support me and my family, we had people
coming down from different sides of the
country to support the family. We’re not a
rich family…And then, and it weren’t even
the eleventh hour when people could have
cancelled their holidays and done it for
whenever, it was the trial set and I think
it’s disgusting with any system once that
trial date is set…and about a week before,
two weeks before it don’t matter what his
defence whatever throw up, tough shit,
pardon my French, it should be tough,
because everyone is so psyched up to go to
get it over with, to get on with their lives
one way or another and then because he’s
said something the judge’s bowed down
to his cries, even though she seems like a
decent judge, it’s put it right back…
| 71
Like I know I have heard that the judge
said basically if they don’t find anything
she will chuck the book at him and he’s got
two weeks to make up his mind whether
or not he wants to change to guilty plea.
That doesn’t help the situation we’re in, be
it dire straights with money, the house, the
girls, their lives have been chucked upside
down.
…concentrating on his every God damn
bloody whim and I don’t think that’s fair,
you know and I said when are my children
going to have their voice heard in damn
court. I said it’s not fair, he’s pulling the
plugs telling this to his solicitor gets it
postponed for another two months, three
months, six months, eight months and it’s
just not, it’s just not fair.
…I said because we’re on trial here
accusing us of doing this that and the
other, which they’re saying we are and we
haven’t done nothing and we feel we’re
the ones on trial that we’re being bloody
scrutinised for his mistakes…The girls
should be heard, the girls feelings…the girls
feelings should be put into consideration.
You can see why people don’t report it…
…and that is because of him [the
defendant], the courts allowing him to do
it, it’s that bit that’s failing people.
A member of police staff told us of a case
that has been going on for five years and
has been adjourned for the 23rd time.
The longer it takes the longer victims and
witnesses have to deal with the stress,
strain and, as some describe it, the trauma
of being a victim or witness.
There is a distinct impression that
the court system has in-built delays,
postponements through adjournments
that are designed to serve the needs of
the courts or person accused rather than
the needs of victims and witnesses. Courts
purposely plan more trials than they
can manage on the day. This is because
there is an assumption that there will be
guilty pleas, but often the defendant will
wait until the last moment to see if the
witnesses will turn up to give evidence.
Prosecutors should also be more prepared
and challenge delays in court and the
length of time that cases get to court. The
current process does not seem to be at all
effective or efficient; the knock on effect,
both emotionally and financially on victims
and witnesses, as well as the disruption
to those staff who work in and around
the criminal justice system is significant. It
is an additional drain on resources when
police officers are waiting in court to give
evidence and are often not called rather
than policing the streets. A witness called
to appear at Wellingborough Magistrate’s
Court describes her experience:
“…When I arrived I was told that the case
would not be heard. This was already
apparent the day before. I understand that
these postponements are a commonplace
occurrence – part of the system. More
cases are listed than can possibly be heard
in the understanding that some defendants
will plead guilty on the day. This may serve
the convenience of the court, but not that
of those attempting to give public service
as prosecution witnesses.
I appreciate the help available from the
witness support service, and the apology
given by the magistrates. But this does
not change a system which appears to
run for the benefit of the justice system
with insufficient regard for the individuals
caught up in it. At the very least, I could
have been informed yesterday that today’s
hearing would not go ahead.”
Another witness to domestic violence
told us:
“Until three days before the case I was not
informed that I was required, despite other
witnesses being given a full week’s notice.
On calling to enquire as to my attendance
being required I was informed that it was.
I then received a letter confirming that my
attendance was required and that I would
be arrested should I fail to attend.”
There were a significant number of
criticisms that we received from those who
work in and around the criminal justice
system about the issue of delays caused by
court adjournments and the issue of listing
more cases than can be managed:
“The court date system is a farce. Victims
and witnesses are routinely called to court
for a trial that is reserved listed and it does
not go ahead, wasting all of their time.
There appears top be no thought as to the
date of the trial and if this might have an
impact on the victim. For example, case of
sexual assault on female by male friend.
First court date was set as the anniversary
of the offence; second court date was set
and all victims and witnesses attended
(by now 18 months had passed from the
date of the offence). During the early legal
discussions, it became apparent that a
professional expert that had been used
by the defence was not qualified and the
case had to be adjourned again so that
they could get a second expert. There is
no doubt that this should all have been
checked beforehand, so that the victim
did not have to go through the trauma yet
again of travelling to court, getting herself
ready for the gruelling experience of giving
evidence to be told, that the defence were
being given more time to prepare their
case. The defendant was put before the
victim.”
It is apparent that victims and witnesses
find the court system a mystery. A victim
of burglary questioned how the public
could determine whether the courts
were efficient given the number of
adjournments:
“…about constant adjournment at court
and I do wonder just how much courts
are audited and what work goes on
within courts to try and save money there
because an awful lot of money is wasted
by the court system…I mean it’s costing us
as a tax payer every time it’s adjourned…
and there’s the time and money involved
with witnesses getting to the courts.
Yet when you think about all the
money that’s wasted elsewhere in the
criminal justice system that could…pay a
policeman’s salary.”
One magistrate told us that they consider
victims and witnesses to be a major
contributor to the success of a trial and
recognised the financial and efficiency loss
if they did not turn up at court. Magistrates
and court staff we heard from recognise
the need to improve communication
September 2013
to victims and witnesses and how this
might affect their future attendance and
ultimately justice being done. They have
taken some steps by making time to
personally explain and apologise to victims
why a case is adjourned, but there remains
considerable room for improvement.
Magistrates stress the need to be
impartial. But there was a feeling from the
victims and witnesses we heard from that
the needs of the offender take priority and
they are sidelined. What they want from
the justice system is not considered and
they and their contribution not valued. A
victim of rape told us:
“[The] judge wouldn’t hear [my] case, but
it is left on file. Feel there was support
for the offender who was terminally ill.
Ignored feelings for myself as the victim.
Feel cross with CPS. I felt didn’t understand
my circumstances adequately, properly.”
Another victim who had bicycles stolen
from their shed and does not feel that
the police were particularly interested
or helpful told us about a previous
incident where as a victim they thought
the offender had received preferential
treatment:
“Previous crime involved criminal damage
to my car by a football hooligan at Sixfields
stadium. Hooligan was arrested and
we went to court. He was shown more
sympathy and consideration than me and
because he was unemployed paid expenses
for attending court. I received nothing. The
whole experience was a sad joke. Clearly,
the system shows more concern for the
perpetrator than the victim.”
In extreme cases victims and witnesses
told us they felt they became the ones
under investigation or on trial. One
victim of domestic violence describes
her experiences:
“I am the survivor of extreme domestic
violence. The perpetrator used
Northampton Court…to try to gain control
by passing to me threatening paperwork.
Prior to this…the same perpetrator
threatened me verbally in [court outside
of the county], he then followed me out
of the Courtroom (having reduced me to
tears, through the stress of my situation)
and then forced his way into my personal
consulting room. My pregnant Legal
Clerk, paid for by my father, as I have been
financially abused I cannot get legal aid,
and have no savings, tried to push the door
of the consulting room against him, as did
our son. He still was forcing his way into
the room and he grabbed my left front of
my arm.”
of DA [domestic abuse] issues. Defendants
Barrister pointed at me in Court and stated
words to effect this woman does not look
like the type usually abused. I was so
frightened to speak up at time but wish I
had now as she was portraying an image
of what I should be if victim of DA. Very
stereotypical image of victims which is NOT
true. My Barrister did not pick up on this
either or the judge.”
The impact of these continuous instances
has extreme emotional trauma. I had not
seen this perpetrator since his conviction
at [local] Magistrates Court…to be
attacked like this has dire consequences,
because if he uses the justice system like
this, what chance do I stand, or our son,
of getting any peace?
Another victim of anti-social behaviour
told us about their experience of the
adversarial court system, how it made
them feel and some simple things that can
help improve the experience:
Weak, overloaded, ‘out of touch’ with
people, sloppy and unprofessional
(paperwork and behaviour) at [court
outside of the county], basic facts not
addressed, inconsistent paperwork
and lack of attention to detail, Court
Ushers – not obvious, not protective of
victims, poor security, sloppy office and
no communication. As I have no Legal
Aid I would expect a certain level of
communication – the same as a trained
Legal Person might get, I have received
none. In fact the Court Order I was to
adhere to arrived 22 days after the
Hearing – realistically – how long does it
take to type a piece of paper to us??? An
illustration of sloppy administration, or an
overloaded and decaying system at this
Court. Northampton County Court and
[local] Magistrates Court, very busy but
communicate well and are professional,
good attention to paperwork and detail.
Court Usher – dressed appropriately, very
professional with good communication.”
Another domestic abuse victim told us
about her experience of a trial:
“Very good apart from fact reported me
to social services without my knowledge
regarding friend who was in court
supporting us who had been accused of
crime which he was later acquitted of.
Difficult situation I realise but my daughter
who was in no danger was sixteen at time.
Added to my stress particularly as had
Circuit Judge too with little experience
“[The experience in court] was very hard…
even though you’re the witness you feel
like a criminal. Not by the magistrates or
anything like that, it’s the lawyers, the way
the lawyers work or the defence lawyer.
When they go, “I put it to you and that
wasn’t the case”; they’re trying to say
you’re lying. And one thing I will say about
the court experience it would be handy
if you have a glass of water while you’re
being questioned when you’re stood up
and giving your evidence. Just a simple
thing like that. Because you can see the
lawyers have got glasses of water where
they are. And you do get so dry when
you’re up there giving evidence.
What else would be nice, as well, is after
the defendant has give their comment,
is to be able to stand up and rebuff it…It
would be nice to be able to say something
into the lawyer’s ear and I say no, ask him
about such and such. But because you’re
all sat separately and can’t converse with
anybody else.”
A mother of a young person who had a
knife held to their throat expressed how
she feels:
“He [the offender] did go to court,
apparently somebody should have let us
know what happened but they didn’t…then
we get a letter through the post saying
that he’s [her son] going to have to go… to
give evidence. But it feels like we’re being
summoned to court now…we don’t have a
| 73
solicitor, we don’t have anybody to support
us,…we’re just being told what to do…like
we’re common criminals,…like we’re the
ones in the wrong or something…and it’s
made me realise why so many people say I
don’t think it’s worth it.”
For many victims and witnesses, the
attention is completely on the person on
trial and they are sidelined, even by those
that they assume will be on their side,
such as the prosecutor from the Crown
Prosecution Service. The person on trial
gets all the support they need and the
victim or witness is largely left to fend for
themselves. The mother goes on:
“It feels like we are the only people in the
scenario who have nobody to stand up in
court for us…if he’s [the defendant] not
working he can get [a] free solicitor, he got
someone who’ll come and stand up for him
and talk for him for free. We don’t have
that option…it just feels like once…you’ve
given your initial statement nobody’s really
that interested… Now I don’t have any
confidence in that the system is working
for us.”
The mother of daughters who had been
sexually abused also expressed her
concerns at the lack of contact with the
prosecutor. It highlights the need for the
victim to be more involved and have their
voice heard;
“…whereas he [the defendant] can have
a solicitor [and barrister] …I haven’t even
met mine once. So I haven’t been able to
say could you please say…this is taking too
long or something…I haven’t been able to
say that because I’ve never met the person
that’s supporting us.
[I was told] usually witnesses…meet their
like barristers on the day. I think that’s
wrong. I think you should meet the person
that’s defending you way before the court
case…
…I don’t know who this person [prosecutor]
is. I don’t know anything about them. I
don’t know, I haven’t been able to think are
they good or they know what they’re doing
because I’ve never met them.
“He [the offender] did go to court, apparently
somebody should have let us know what
happened but they didn’t…then we get a letter
through the post saying that he’s [her son]
going to have to go… to give evidence. But
it feels like we’re being summoned to court
now…we don’t have a solicitor, we don’t have
anybody to support us,…we’re just being told
what to do…like we’re common criminals,…like
we’re the ones in the wrong or something…and
it’s made me realise why so many people say I
don’t think it’s worth it.”
September 2013
…is he good, because it just seems that
[defendant’s] solicitor is …doing the shots
and they’re getting away with everything,
where’s if ours, it’s like playing over rolling
dead…obviously if you’ve not had any
dealings…you can’t get to sort of kind of
know.
I can honestly see why people throw in the
towel, because he’s made to look golden
boy and it’s my girls and me on trial and it’s
him on trial. If anyone should be stopping
the trial date it should be me and the girls
because we can’t cope, not him.”
The lack of someone of legal standing who
can represent them in the court room
during a trial adds to the isolation many
victims and witnesses feel. A mother of a
young victim explained what she felt was
a gap:
“CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] have
made a decision and that was that…I’m
[CPS] are even going to speak to you. I was
very unhappy with that…we don’t have
any say in it, that’s the end of our say,
nobody’s interested now in what we’ve got
to say…that’s how it felt was nobody really
cares about us. We don’t get to know …
the solicitor and go to court and say this is
what we think, this is what happened to
us. Nobody wants to know. Our solicitor
is the CPS, but they’re not our solicitor.
They’re not there for us. They’re there to…
get a conviction…but [I] didn’t feel that it
was taken very seriously.”
Both victims and witnesses and those
justice system identify that the Crown
Prosecution Service should improve how
it communicates with the victim and
witnesses to both notify them of trials, and
also to keep them updated on progress
and explain why certain decisions have
been made. Accessibility to the Crown
Prosecution Service is also an issue. A
witness to a robbery told us about their
experience in trying to get an answer to
their question about having to attend
court:
“[I was] again unable to contact CPS for
explanation re being called to court. Also
I re-contacted them as I had an operation
booked in. They just kept saying well you’ve
been called to court so you have to attend.
Unbelievable the defendant didn’t arrive
at the first court appearance as he had
apparently “been lost in the prison system”
and they were unable to locate him in
order to bring him to court. The supposed
ID issue was dealt with at this hearing
as a legal point argued in court between
the lawyers. But I was still called again
to the rescheduled hearing and still with
absolutely no explanation why, bearing in
mind the issue that I was a witness in had
already been debated and settled.”
One victim of domestic abuse told us how
they had found out almost by accident
that the court and court date had changed
when being shown around a court that, it
turned out, was not the court that would
be hearing the trial:
“…when I went to the courts to have a
look round and request…[I was told] that
the court date had changed and changed
towns… CPS [Crown Prosecution Service]
hadn’t told me, the courts hadn’t told me,
the police hadn’t told me…there were
three different agencies that could have
contacted but never [did]…we found out
from…witness services when you go up to
the court and look round.”
I rang up the CPS to make a complaint
and…I rang and then when I rang the
number it’s not recognised so I never did
put a complaint in…”
Someone who intervened in a fight
between young people who was then
attacked, suffering head injuries and now
has problems with memories, experiences
blackouts and has periods where they
become confused, told us about their
problems in trying to get answers:
“The CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] I
had no contact with. And the courts…I was
let down by because I was left in limbo…
[there] doesn’t seem a designated point of
contact when you get to the courts, to find
out what’s going on. Am I needed? Should
I be there? Am I likely to be on a witness
list? When is the person actually going to
be brought for trial? What do I need to
do? Things like that…Do I need to set aside
time off in case I’m called? …It just went
deafeningly quiet and I only actually found
out what had been going on from one of
the other witnesses, who had also only
found out third hand.”
In many cases, the decision or sentence
of the court or sentence is perceived as
ineffective. Magistrates tell us that the
processes to ensure that the victims’ voice
is heard in court through victim impact
statements needs to be considerably
improved.
Another related issue is inconsistency in
who was hearing the case. We were told
by someone who went to court regarding
a long-running boundary dispute resulting
in a neighbour trespassing on their land
and damaging property that:
“We thought that by going to court a
judgement would be made to resolve the
problem. Instead, we had four different
judges and although the outcome was
in our favour, we are still living with the
problem.”
There is also a sense that courts have
become detached from reality. One victim
of vandalism describes their frustration:
“My car was vandalised whilst parked on
my drive.
[It was a] very emotional experience,
also very disruptive, and significant
financial loss (still waiting for one of
the perpetrators to pay what the court
ordered). I still get very angry when I see
[offender]…walking around Daventry
and the court unable or unwilling to do
anything about it. I was an innocent victim
of mindless vandalism yet had to buy my
own car back from the salvage company,
and cover the costs of repair when the
insurance companies offer did not cover
the full cost. If you are really serious about
a new criminal justice system, then it
has to be a lot broader than just the law.
NCC [Northamptonshire County Council]
should pay all costs that victims incur due
to the kind of behaviour I suffered, the
establishment has the power to enforce
idiots to pay back the money, I don’t, and
the law won’t. Even if you arrested…I still
wouldn’t get my money back, yet he scams
| 75
the benefits system, owns a smart phone,
does his drugs, drinks in the local pubs,
etc etc all in the face of the tax payer who
would rather see him lose his liberty, his
driving license, his passport, and have his
benefits reduced.
You really don’t care enough and have
lost touch with peoples real life concerns
and issues. People want tougher actions
and sentences. If it was your car and
life that was disrupted you’d be more
understanding.”
The negative experiences of victims and
witnesses of courts outweigh those with
positive experiences. The standard of
service is inconsistent, with the courts
themselves shrouded in mystery and
court officials are divorced from real life.
The process is too long and too often
littered with delays and adjournments. The
impression that victims and witnesses have
is that they are required to meet the needs
of the court, regardless of the difficulties
and costs to them including having to
rearrange work or family commitments
and sometimes for no reason.
There is insufficient information
and support to help prepare victims
and witnesses who attend court,
poor communication, especially for
adjournments, and lack of consideration,
respect and empathy for victims and
witnesses who feel sidelined and, in
some cases, feel they were being judged
themselves.
All of this goes to further undermining
the confidence of victims and witnesses
that they will see justice effectively taking
place. This is encapsulated by the view of
one witness to a serious assault:;
“They are taking far too long to bring this
violent crime to court. All the time the
violent, abusive criminal is free to do what
ever he likes, with his partner to back up his
every move up! Court cases, provisionally
booked…waste of time and inconvenient.
Then finally a solid date, which has now
been cancelled and rearranged. I am
beginning to think the Justice System is a
“Big Joke”.”
Recommendations
•The Crown Prosecution Service and police should put arrangements in place to
ensure that victim impact statements are presented at court.
•Magistrates and judges should consider how they might provide more detailed
explanations in court about sentences given. This would address the concern of
many victims and witnesses and members of the public who do not understand the
sentence given and may not feel that it is proportionate to the crime.
•The practice of double listing trials in courts leads to huge disappointment,
inconvenience and sometimes financial hardship for victims and witnesses. While
some degree of double listing is inevitable to deliver an efficient courts system, this
should be kept to the absolute minimum and take full account of the likely impact
on vulnerable victims and witnesses.
•The courts should consider greater use of video links to reduce unnecessary delays
and adjournments, and consider a widening of the usage for vulnerable victims.
•Further progress needs to be made to ensure the guaranteed separation of areas
for victims, witnesses, and defendants in court buildings.
•Arrangements need to be in place to provide special measures required by victims
and witnesses in court which allow the arrangements to be made in good time
before the proceedings commence and for victims and witnesses to be assured that
the agreed measures will reliably be available on the day.
•Provision needs to be available for victims or witnesses who haven’t previously
identified a need for support and who then identify needs and requirements for
support and guidance on the day of court.
•The Crown Prosecution Service should consider how victims are engaged with the
prosecution team prior to court and throughout the hearing. Often victims talk of
the offender being clearly on very familiar terms with their defence team, but the
victim only getting to meet the team who is prosecuting their case for the first time
on the morning of the hearing.
•Magistrates should consider ways to further strengthen links with all communities
and further enhance their understanding of the experiences of victims. This could
be facilitated by a programme of visits to different communities across the areas
in which their courts operate using a similar model as used by the Business in the
Community programme.
•Options should be considered for creating a single point for complaint and service
resolution across the criminal justice system.
September 2013
| 77
Support Services
Becoming a victim or witnessing a
crime can be a traumatic and emotional
experience. It affects people and those
around them in different ways and is not
dependant on how ‘serious’ the crime is.
It can lead to people feeling more fearful,
cautious or angry and frustrated.
The needs of victims and witnesses are
diverse, from long-term emotional and
psychological counselling, to shorter-term
practical or financial support or having
someone to talk to.
Service Experience
Support Services
Victims and witnesses are the innocent
parties when a crime is committed.
However, becoming a victim or witness
can turn lives upside down. The mother
of young victims of sexual abuse by their
father, unable to sell her house due to
delays in getting the case to court, told us:
“…I was left in so much debt…it’s
unbelievable. I’ve got no where to turn
with all the debts.
…my head wants to explode with all the
crap, trying to find money that I can’t, I’m
in debt up to the eyeballs just trying to
keep the house going until it can get sold…
and then they say I’m not sick enough, so
they’ve just stopped the money like that.
That’s really going to help me and the
girls with nothing bloody coming in and
someone should be there to help us on
that bit…
…the house will end up getting repossessed because… [I’ve] not got the
payments.”
Surprisingly, the available research tells
us that only a small proportion of victims
and witnesses use services intended to
provide them with support. Of the people
we heard from only about a quarter had
been in contact with Victim Support,
the largest support organisation in the
country. Victim Support is there to provide
support to every victim of crime, but, in
Northamptonshire, is currently not funded
to support victims of anti-social behaviour.
Likewise, of those victims and witnesses
who attended court around only a third
told us they had contact with the witness
care unit at Northamptonshire Police and
the witness service provided by Victim
September 2013
Support. These services are there to
support victims and witnesses through the
court process.
“All agencies have been amazing, all
helped the family, cannot fault any of
them.”
There are reasons why victims do not feel
they need support. This may be because
they feel able to cope on their own, feel
embarrassed about being a victim, they
think the crime is not serious enough or
because they have strong personal or
family networks that provide the support
they need:
“VS [Victim Support] and WS [witness
service] Excellent, thank you. I feel listened
to and supported.”
“Received a card through the door from
victim support but didn’t need it so didn’t
contact them.”
“Just let me know I could contact them
[witness service] if I needed to.”
“Decided not to use. Easier to talk
to friends and family, they knew the
situation”
“Was sent a letter by Victim Support but
to be honest I would have thought a victim
would be more like someone who had
GBH, ABH, etc; not someone with a broken
door mirror.”
Some may think they do not need support
at the time it is offered, usually soon after
the offence, but may do so further down
the line and it is important this is available
at short notice when needed. Those we
spoke to who did not use the services
when contacted were reassured that it was
something that was available should they
need it in the future:
“Victim Support I have had some contact
and it has been ok. I have had letters and
phone calls asking if there is anything I
need so it is nice to know the support is
there.”
The victims and witnessed we heard from
who had used the non-specialist victim
support services had limited expectations.
They tended not to know about what
support services there were or what they
had to offer until they became a victim,
but they tended to expect a level of
reassurance, support and advice.
A large number of people had their
expectations met and told us they had
received a good service from a range of
organisations. They told us:;
“Witness care unit. Good. Kept me
informed. Sent me information on
proceedings. Forwarded important update
information to CPS [Crown Prosecution
Service] and the police. Always calm and
reassuring. Thank you.”
“Victim Support provided a sympathetic
ear, and contacted me very quickly.”
“They [Victim Support] let me know what
was going on.”
“Daventry and South Northants
community safety officers. The support
from this agency was second to none. They
listened to our problem, visited the site and
contacted the local parish council. They
continued to support me through all the
complaints and they helped to finally have
the youth shelter removed.”
“They [Victim Support] made regular
contact with myself and my girlfriend.
My girlfriend especially appreciated having
someone to talk to.”
“I receive a reassuring weekly phone call
from a Victim Support volunteer and this
one to one support is invaluable as an aid
to recovering from the after effects of the
crime.”
A victim of domestic violence could not
praise the support received from Victim
Support and witness services enough,
despite not having a good experience of
the overall criminal justice system:
“The only person who has really
supported me through it was… my
Victim Support worker. [Named Victim
Support worker] took a big weight on
her shoulders and she’s a volunteer…I
would have gone to court if it wasn’t for
[named Victim Support worker]. I would
have took the consequences of having
a witness summons and breaking it but
it was [named Victim Support worker’s]
reassurance and talking to me that made
me realise that I’d got to do it, not only for
me but for my kids.
I was going up to see her weekly and she
was always there on the end of the phone
if I needed to talk to her or if I had any
problems or concerns she was there.”
About witness services, she said;
“When we went to look round
Northampton Court, it was just a precourt visit to see who sits where…[named
witness services worker] was really nice
and reassuring…She was listening and
she tried everything to reassure me that
everything would be fine on the day, if I
weren’t sure of anything she’d be there for
me to ask any questions and she gave me
her number any time I needed to ring her if
I thought of anything else she was always
there… She should get a medal… She was
brilliant.”
One victim of rape who spoke to us
described their appreciation of the support
services provided by Victim Support and
Serenity. With reference to Victim Support
they said:
“And to be honest I can’t fault Victim
Support really…even now still has a lot of
contact…with [named worker] from Victim
Support, she’ll go and see him at his work
place.
She’s [named Victim Support worker]
played a real big part in [victim’s] life
and just to get…over it really… And she’s
been really helpful, really kind again very
professional, can’t thank her enough,
really can’t.”
But there is also a mixed picture where
victims and witness support services
are seen to provide different levels of
service. This may reflect the different
needs that victims and witnesses have
and expectations they have of the services
on offer. Some services are only provided
by specialist organisations that support
victims of specific crimes. A victim of rape,
sexual abuse and violence told us;
| 79
Support Services
“Victim Support were not helpful to me.
Nene Valley Family Christian Refuge also
Women’s Aid, they helped me in every way,
support, counselling, courses etc.”
A victim of burglary also told us about the
support they had been offered but her
neighbour, who had actually witnessed the
crime taking place, had not been offered
the same level of support:
“I had a letter and then she [Victim Support
worker] rang me and I didn’t feel I needed
any sort of counselling support that she
had to offer, just because of the nature of
my crime really. But it was there and she
made it perfectly clear that if that were
to change then I was welcome to contact
them.
The lady who witnessed it, my neighbour
over the road. I’m not sure how much
support she was given because she wasn’t
the victim, but she was absolutely terrified
at the prospect of having to go to court.”
Nevertheless there are examples where
the level of service did not help the victim
or witness or meet their expectations.
When the help is not available, it reinforces
the sense of vulnerability and isolation
some victims may feel. A victim described
to us what happened to them and their
experience of support services:
“[I was] attacked by young people
deliberately throwing rocks at passengers
waiting for buses at bus stop and at
vehicles driving past.
Whilst being supportive, Victim Support
does nothing to either remove the fear
and anxiety of incidents happening again
or provide reassurance that there will be
police assistance in future.”
Another victim of burglary who had all
their jewellery stolen told us:
“No help whatsoever, I had my hopes for
support raised when I heard about this
service and this made it all the worse when
they turned out to be useless.”
When we spoke to people who work in
and around the criminal justice system,
we were also told about their experiences
of services which they believe lets down
victims and witnesses:
“Mental health crisis team seem to be a
real let down. I have never heard anyone
say a good word about the service they
provide. For example, if someone is feeling
really depressed/suicidal and they muster
up enough courage to call someone for
help and then get told to, and I quote,
“drink a hot chocolate””
“Support from professionals and support
workers in the field of mental health
seems lacking for those who may display
anxieties but not have a specific psychiatric
diagnosis.”
A mother of a young victim talked about
being caught up in a system that made it
difficult to get the help needed:
“So all I want to do is just speak to
somebody and say what’s going on, what’s
happening? In the mean time [named
victim]… won’t come… out his bedroom,
won’t leave the house he’s scared, he
knows that this person is bailed just up
the road, and we’ve had no support… So
we eventually get a letter from the police
saying…that Victim Support will be in
contact, so I phoned Victim Support, say I
think we need some help, we need some
support, so I speak to one person she
asked me all about it, and then she says oh
OK, I’ll put you through to the right area
then. I think why did you ask me all those
questions, why did you get me to tell you
everything if you were just going to pass it
on any way.
It wasn’t like I said I want to tell you all this
she was asking me the questions so then
I was answering. So then I go through to
somebody else thinking that now I’m in
the right place, no she asked me all the
questions again and then says…we’ll need
to… allocate a person right then OK, but
that won’t be here that will be somewhere
else…so can they phone.
And I’m saying look my son, I think he really
needs to talk to somebody but he won’t…
come and talk to you on the phone no I
don’t think that’s really the right way to do
this… Can’t we arrange the appointment
for him, can it be somewhere reasonably
local? Can it be somewhere, you know
maybe you could use school…”
The experience worsens when, despite
the difficulties already experienced,
expectations are raised but nothing
happens. The mother continues:;
“Well they’ve never got back in contact
with us; we’ve not heard anything from
them.
We decided take him to the doctors
ourselves, just take him to the doctors,
because…because he couldn’t sleep…and
the doctor was really very good with him.
She talked to him…said to him…it was
understandable that he was in shock and
talk to him about why he might be feeling
the way he was…
That’s all it took was somebody sat and
said I’m not surprised you feel that way
and gave him a little bit of understanding…
and things slowly started to progress from
there, things slowly started to improve
almost like magic really.”
Another victim who was assaulted and
to whom the offender threatened to stab
their children told us:
“I was told they would get back in touch
with me and they didn’t.”
Much of the victim and witness support
services in Northamptonshire is provided
by charities and volunteers. Those we
heard from who work in and around the
criminal justice system appreciate the
positive contribution that these services
make in supporting victims and witnesses.
For example one told us:
“[The] witness service is a godsend to
victims and witnesses at court. They
are mostly volunteers and without their
support, the courts would not run as
efficiently and the victims and witnesses
would be a lot more stressed.”
Maintaining these support services in the
face of cutbacks is a challenge. A victim of
domestic abuse who has experienced how
the level of service has changed over time
told us:
“From 2009 to 2011 these services were
effective and personal. Women’s Aid,
Victim Support, I think that since then I
have recently found that I have had less
contact, I have been told that people will
September 2013
contact and they do not and the system
seems to be very overloaded. Obviously
there must have been cutbacks, as the
support has changed in just a year or so.”
Recommendations
The issue of funding is also a concern
raised by people working in and around
the criminal justice system. One suggested
to us that:
•A new Victim and Witness Service should be built and delivered that;
“The infrastructure is already in place
to provide support, but agencies are
continually faced with lack of sufficient
funds which makes planning and
developing their service challenging. The
witness care unit is underfunded, without
sufficient full time staff they will always
have difficulties in carrying out their
essential role. Victim Support, witness
service is a voluntary agency whose
service is reliant on funding being made
available. Without these agencies the
support to witnesses, victims would be
seriously compromised. As much as talking
about “improvements” maintaining and
developing the present support system
should be a priority. This is clearly a
challenge in the present financial climate.
However, in the context of Victim Support,
witnesses service, being a voluntary
agency, it should be noted that the
benefit of their contribution to supporting
witnesses, victims far outstrips the actual
cost of the service.”
Support Services
a) provides a quality, single point of contact to the entire criminal justice process,
designed around victims’ and witnesses’ needs, accessible to all, offering
information, updates on case progression and court processes, liaison and care for
witnesses going through court, and provides support services for as long as needed;
b) works closely with the Police and Crime Commission to deliver quality
commissioning of specialist services, for example for victims of ASB, domestic
violence and serious or sensitive cases, such as victims of road collisions and
fatalities;
c) commits to continuously listening and hearing from victims and witnesses,
championing their needs and providing feedback to organisations and agencies in
the criminal justice system and beyond where appropriate.
•Consideration should be given of how both general and specialist victim support
services can be made more accessible to people who have chosen not to formally
report their crime but who still require support.
•Building on the information received during the Victims’ Voice consultation, the
Police and Crime Commissioner should further review existing specialist services for
victims and witnesses, and develop a strategic plan for future service delivery.
•Across the provision of specialist services, the training, management and support
of volunteers could be strengthened. This should be considered by the Police
and Crime Commissioner as he develops new option for an integrated model of
volunteer management across criminal justice and community safety.
•Options should be explored of whether a ‘cashless voucher’ system could be
developed and piloted for victims of crime, to allow them grater personal choice
and flexibility in accessing services how and when they feel best meets their needs.
Whilst these negative experiences are
not necessarily typical of the services
that victim and witness support services
provide, they highlight the need to get
it right every time. The consequences of
getting it wrong can be long-term and farreaching, adding to the trauma and pain of
being a victim and witness in the first place
and affecting all aspects of a person’s life
and their sense of wellbeing.
| 81
82 | Restorative Practice
It is clear that for many victims what they
currently experience does not meet their
needs and support them to recover and
move on. The court process is slow, does
not always get to court and does not
always give the closure that victims want
Some victims welcome being offered an
apology and to have an opportunity to
tell the person who had victimised them
directly how they feel and the harm that
has been done. A mother of a young
person threatened with a knife told us:
Restorative Practice
“Almost part of me thinks… we don’t
know what he’s thinking, and maybe
he feels really bad for what he’s done
because… just to know that he realises
what he’s done and he might feel some
guilt for what he’s done… would improve
the situation.
And I still think he should be punished for
it but to know that he’s not sitting there
laughing at us would make me feel better.
And to go to court my son have to go
through all that and then nothings come
out of it… I would feel that he’s laughing
at us.”
Such processes, in which the victim has
the opportunity either in person, or less
directly if they wish, to talk with the
person who has offended against them,
are known as ‘restorative justice’. This
does not have to happen face-to-face.
There are other ways that it can be done
such as through an intermediary, by letter
or other means.
Often victims experience a formal court
process and end up being none the wiser
as to why they were singled out and
whether there is a risk they might be
victimised again. Victims often experience
being “unheard” and “drowned out”.
Victims are not able to directly tell the
court about what has happened to them
and impact on their lives and those
around them. They see a criminal justice
system which focuses on the legalities
of their case and on dealing with the
offender concerned, often feeling as
a result that it loses sight of them, as
victims:
September 2013
“…I do feel sorry for these boys because I
think their circumstances have led them
to behave the way they have… But at
the end of the day what someone should
have, I think, ensured is that somebody
apologised. You know, its all very well
giving somebody community service,
but you know, when you did what you
did I’d quite like you to come round and
apologise and say I’m sorry and own up
to it.”
Staff working in and around the criminal
justice system describe the frustration of
victims they work with when expectations
of the justice system are not met.
“… without the time or resources we can
never give a ‘perfect’ service to either
[victims and witnesses]. We definitely
need some forum (leaflet, perhaps) to
give to victims who have been ‘out of
pocket’ because of their crime which
explains the powers which police/courts
have to recoup, or otherwise, some or
all of the losses, eg it is very difficult for
victims of criminal damage to understand
why the police are unable to make the
offenders pay for that damage. The justice
system rarely allows for compensation or
reparation dependant upon the outcome
of the case. Victims become very upset
at the police and feel victimised all over
again. This is an area which definitely
needs re-examining as it does nothing to
help victims.”
Restorative approaches can include other
reparative elements, where the offender
agrees to make amends for the harm
they have caused. This may be direct,
such as repairing property that has been
damaged or paying for it to be replaced.
Alternatively, the offender can agree to
undertake other indirect reparation that
helps the victim or the local community in
some other way.
People who work in and around the
criminal justice system are generally
positive about the concept of such
‘restorative practices’, and several have
been trained to use these methods.
However some suggest that they do not
have the opportunities to use these skills
at all and others lack confidence when
they do so. They feel senior managers talk
a lot about such ‘restorative justice’ but
have not made a genuine commitment to
make it happen, to make it a service that
victims can use should they choose to
and are not prepared to invest sufficiently
in it.
The Youth Offending Service has
used restorative methods for some
time and has helped train staff from
other organisations. There are further
opportunities here to share learning
from this organisation’s experience and
for their staff to act as mentors for other
organisations.
There is a view that restorative and
mediation processes should happen as
early as possible after victimisation has
taken place, and yet often they are only
offered a long time after, when formal
court processes have completed. Some of
those who work with victims worry when
dealing with anti-social behaviour that
there is crime investigation and evidence
gathering activity that can ‘get in the way’
of finding early resolutions for the people
affected.
The flip-side is that sometimes victims are
not ready for ‘restorative’ activity when
it is first offered, but become ready later,
yet it is often only offered to them once.
This timescale is often set by agencies
managing the offender through the
criminal justice process, rather than in
the interests of the victim. It is important
to victims that such opportunities are
offered flexibly so that they are available
if and when they want it, at any stage
of the formal justice process or long
afterwards for that matter.
There is confusion within the police, with
‘informal resolutions’ and ‘restorative
practice’ sometimes assumed to be one
and the same, whilst actually it appears
that many are not particularly engaging
of victims or ‘restorative’. Some victims
do not see ‘out-of-court disposals’ (where
the police deal more informally with the
offender rather than prosecuting and
the offender going to court) as ‘proper
punishments’ at all, with the sense that
‘nothing has happened’ and that they, as
victims, do not have a say in decisions to
prosecute. Victims also worry that some
cases dealt with informally by the police
are too serious and that it is inappropriate
for informal ‘out of court’ disposals to be
used.
The desire for ‘restorative’ approaches in
their case is far from universally held by
victims. There are risks that some victims
really do not want such approaches and
yet they are thrust upon them anyway.
Some felt it can become superficial,
particularly where letters of apology
are not genuine or not wanted. Some
victims simply do not want the offender
back in their vicinity and want to move
on without any ‘restorative’ approach.
Others would welcome it. The solution
is to give victims all the options available
and enable them to make an informed
choice. Every case is different and one
size does not fit all.
“… well it’s got pros and cons. It’s just
that I know I’ve read something about
this in the press not so long ago … she
actually met the person, I think it was
robbery … or she’d been burgled and she
met the person that committed the crime
and actually gave her some resolution
because she questioned the person why
she did it. And it gave her understanding
you know.
About them as well. You know because he
was a drug addict and … it opened up an
area that she’s never talked about.
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84 | Restorative Practice
The closure bit, I’m right with it … the only
reason I would say that I want to meet
them is to actually give me an idea to sum
up what backgrounds they’re from … the
reason why… Do they have to you know
do silly pranks like that?”
“Now he is being told he might have a
prison sentence, he has never been to
prison, that is why I’m upset. I don’t like
a [man in his fifties] going to prison, he
has health problems himself now. Yeah
he did what he did and he was wrong and
needs to be punished, but I don’t thing in
this day and age, a man who done this
once in eight years. I’m worried about
this. I would like the court not to send him
to prison for that, I would like to see him
on an anger management course, talk
to someone, maybe community service.
There is no point giving him a fine, he
can’t pay it. I worry greatly if he went to
prison for his health. I don’t really know
what punishments there are… Don’t
feel like I have a say in outcomes, the
magistrates have taken it over out of my
hands.”
On balance, there seems considerable
opportunity for victims to benefit much
more from ‘restorative’ approaches,
but they need to be of high quality and
carefully managed, they need to be
flexible and they need to be available
for victims to make informed choices.
“Now he is being told he might have a prison
sentence, he has never been to prison, that is
why I’m upset. I don’t like a [man in his fifties]
going to prison, he has health problems himself
now. Yeah he did what he did and he was
wrong and needs to be punished, but I don’t
thing in this day and age, a man who done this
once in eight years. I’m worried about this. I
would like the court not to send him to prison
for that, I would like to see him on an anger
management course, talk to someone, maybe
community service. There is no point giving him
a fine, he can’t pay it. I worry greatly if he went
to prison for his health. I don’t really know
what punishments there are… Don’t feel like I
have a say in outcomes, the magistrates have
taken it over out of my hands.”
September 2013
Recommendations
•Northamptonshire should be established as a ‘Restorative Practice County’. This should
entail a large-scale increase in the use of restorative justice, which will require financial
resources from a range of agency budgets.
•Subject to successful evaluation, the restorative practice pilots across the county
should be replicated in other areas of the county.
•The use of restorative practice as a means of early conflict resolution should be
considered in a wide range of contexts, including schools, partly as a means of avoiding
some crimes arising in the first place.
•Restorative options should be seriously considered as a component of sentencing for
all offences, where the victim wishes this to be the case and has been engaged and
able to make an informed decision in terms of wishing to participate.
•An expansive programme of training should be undertaken to develop skills and
understanding in respect of restorative practice, to increase the availability of
restorative options to all victims who desire them.
•The new Northamptonshire Police, Crime and Justice Institute, once established,
should function as a ‘local evidence hub’ for restorative practice, to support the
development of quality practice to support victims.
| 85
86 | Working Together
From speaking to and hearing from a
number of victims and witnesses, there
seems much confusion about what
support services are available to them,
when and how they can be used, what
organisations provide them and who they
are offered to.
Victims and witnesses are generally
clear what they expect from the police
in terms of response and investigation.
However, there are gaps that start to
appear in the police providing aftercare in
keeping the victim and witness informed
of developments up to and including the
court process.
Working Together
The experience of the court process is
the most confusing aspect for the victims
and witnesses we heard from, often
because it is new and not well understood.
The roles of the different people and
organisations that work in and around
courts – magistrates and judges, court
clerks, ushers, witness service, witness care
unit, probation, CPS, defence solicitors and
barristers, security – add to this confusion
and victims and witnesses only have a
vague idea what they do.
A victim of domestic violence told us:
“it is very confusing (about what
organisations are involved and who
does what), I mean as the court case was
getting closer it seemed like I was the one
who was having to make all the phone
calls…”
Victims and witnesses have expectations of
the court process that they will be valued:
that they will be told in a timely fashion
when and where the trial will take place,
that it will take place within a reasonable
time after the offender has been charged
and delays will be minimised, that they will
be kept informed of developments and
decisions will be explained to them, that
they will be protected, and they will be
supported and advised throughout.
It is still the case that many criminal justice
organisations do not give sufficient focus
to victims and witnesses. One person we
heard from who had been a victim of a
number of crime and anti-social behaviour
told us:
September 2013
“When I rang Northamptonshire Police
(using the 101 single non-emergency
number) I was presented with an
automated answer service which presented
4 options, the first of which was to speak
to Custody, the second and third were
concerned with processing fixed penalty
payments and only the 4th of which was to
report an incident. This seems to suggest
the focus of the Force is not with the
victim!”
(NB: the 101 options have now changed,
but the option to report an incident
no long exists and is now ‘for all other
enquiries’).
It also appears that they are not working
effectively together. A victim who was
being harassed, intimidated and stalked
told us what they would like to see
improved:
“Police, CPS [Crown Prosecution Service]
and courts [need to] all work together
more. Police and courts seems to
understand my concerns and spend a lot
of time, money and resources making
me safe for then the CPS to say he’s not a
threat and then the courts pass such small
custodial sentences.”
There are also community-based victim
and witness services that can provide
support throughout and beyond the
criminal justice process. There are
specialist services that deal with people
who have been victims of sexual and
domestic violence crimes. But again
it is poorly understood by victims and
witnesses which organisation provides
what service. Police officers should refer all
victims of crime, currently other than antisocial behaviour, to Victim Support who
then follow up with a letter or telephone
call, but how consistently this approach
is applied is open to question, given the
number of people we had spoken to who
told us they had not had any contact with
Victim Support.
Therefore, it is difficult for victims and
witnesses to know who and how to
contact the right support service, which
is able to provide the right information or
provide a service that meets the needs of
the victim and witness, at the right time.
There are many examples where victims
and witnesses have had to do the chasing
themselves and being passed from pillar
to post before getting what they want.
A victim whose neighbourhood was also
experiencing problems of anti-social
behaviour told us:
They told us that, along with improving the
communication with victims and witnesses
and developing a slicker and speedier
criminal justice system, the need for staff
from different organisations to work better
together would improve the service that
victims and witnesses receive.
“Eventually after many phone calls and
e-mails, I received a suitable answer. All the
agencies … came together and worked as
a team.
There is a need for staff to understand
what other organisations do and how
they do it:
I found it very frustrating that I didn’t get
answers from anybody at first.”
It is also apparent that organisations
and services who work with victims and
witnesses are not aware of each other
and what each other does. When asked
about the role of the witness care unit, the
magistrates and court staff we spoke to
told us they did not know.
Likewise, as we found during a group
discussion with people from different
organisations who work with victims and
witnesses, that there was a degree of
ignorance about what support services are
available in the county.
There are some examples when
organisations have worked together well
in the interests of the victim and witness,
but more where this has not happened.
This is clearly frustrating for those working
in and around the criminal justice system
and working with victims and witnesses.
“It was only when I spent time in the courts
that I realised how the services/products
from the police were used, and where the
police could do things different to help the
courts (and vice versa). Encourage support
staff (police service) to spend a day or so
in the magistrates court so they can get
a better understanding of the issues the
courts face.”
“All agencies should have an understanding
of what the other service can offer and
should ensure the victims knows this at all
stages. Each service should be providing
the victim with information regularly
to ensure they feel they are part of the
process.”
“… Agencies need to work more closely
together to pool resources, avoid
duplication and provide a better service to
victims. The support that is available for
victims need to be mapped, so that referral
pathways can be better established.”
We were also told that victims and
witnesses should be actively involved in
the development of services:
“it is very confusing (about what organisations are involved and
who does what), I mean as the court case was getting closer
it seemed like I was the one who was having to make all the
phone calls…”
| 87
88 | Working Together
“Services that support victims and
witnesses should be more joined up to
avoid duplication and provide better
support throughout an investigation.
Victims and witnesses should be better
consulted about what support they want
to receive and the service that they then
receive should be tailored to meet their
needs.”
Services that are provided to support
victims and witnesses should also be
monitored to ensure they are providing
the best quality of support and be
available when they are needed:
“… ensure that there is a regime of quality
running throughout the service provided
to victims and witnesses … in order that
others have confidence and trust to come
forward as witnesses and to report crimes
as victims.”
“Witness support often help within the
courts and before a witness attends but
so many victims and witnesses are missed
by their services and so the court arena
can become very difficult for some”
Victims and witnesses need to be at
the centre of what criminal justice
organisations provide. Supporting and
protected victims and witnesses needs
to be core business and be the focus of
attention:
“Structure/support to probation officers
does not inspire confidence that victims
are a priority. Communication with other
agencies. It is often hard work to get
Probation to take lead/engage in inter
agency work even if individual officers
want to!!”
There are a number of ways to improve the
coordination, cooperation, communication
and quality of victim and witness services.
One is to have staff from different
organisations co-located or to have a
single victim and witness support service
that supports the victim throughout the
criminal justice process and potentially
beyond.
A victim of domestic violence describes
his experience of the services provided
and what needs to be done:
“Useless. I think they need somebody or
somebody from the police, the CPS [Crown
Prosecution Service] and the courts all to
talk to each other, communicate … or set
up a unit which deals [with it] specifically
… with everything being … in one pot, all
these agencies actually working together
or having an agency specifically for that,
I think they’ll get more trust from victims.
I believe with more trust there’ll be more
conviction …”
We also heard similar views from those
justice system:
“I would query … whether victims would
see the police as best placed to provide
this wider range of support, rather than
an independent voluntary or other body
…. Victims may have to come into contact
with a number of different people and
departments as they progress through the
system. This could lead to victims having to
retell their story again and again – a single
point of contact or a victim advocacy/
support service might help to reduce this”
“Establishing a single information point
for victims/witnesses would bring a great
improvement... Victims/witnesses and
staff from agencies can get confused as
to who might be dealing with a particular
case or should be contacted for specific
information.”
This approach would enable victims and
witnesses to have specific named points of
contact that would coordinate the support
the victim and witness needs as well as
help them navigate through the criminal
justice system.
“There is the potential for victims to be
contacted by up to 5 separate agencies
to provide the same information … cradle
to grave, one stop shop, single point of
contact provision of care would remove
this.”
“Set up a “victim services” group. Victims
need a named contact – they speak to
different people all the time and get a
different story with every call.
September 2013
Recommendations
•The Police and Crime Commissioner should work to set the strategic direction and
consolidate and strengthen commissioning of victims’ services, to improve outcomes
for victims and provide enhanced qualities of service to them.
| 89
90 | Bringing it all Together
Bringing it all
Together
Across the experiences given voice in
this report, there are some common
themes. Where victims have been made
to feel unimportant, not handled in a
sensitive way, not been involved, not
had their cases managed professionally,
it would be wrong to see those things
as somehow the individual failings of
front-line staff. The failings in responding
well to many victims and witnesses
and of fully meeting their needs are
‘institutional’. They are the product of
strategic priorities and performance
systems that haven’t put service to the
victim absolutely and unambiguously as
the number one concern. They arise from
professional cultures that don’t define the
jobs of people as being about helping and
supporting victims. They reflect some stark
gaps in training and supervision.
There is also a need to champion and
celebrate more of what is good about
the services available to victims, and to
reward those who go the extra mile for
victims. The whole system is not currently
appreciative enough of those who focus
their work on meeting victim needs and
display great levels of sensitivity and skill.
Recommendations
•There are examples of excellent practice in working with victims and witnesses
across the county. This needs to be celebrated and encouraged. An annual award
for best practice in meeting victim’s needs would be an effective way to celebrate
and champion this work.
•The National Victims Code of Practice is going to become a statutory obligation and
should be embraced and implemented locally. Currently this is about policing and
should be considered for implementation across the agencies of the criminal justice
system.
•A pilot is already being developed for a Northamptonshire Victim’s Contract, setting
out in straightforward terms the service that victim and witnesses should expect
across the criminal justice system, and this work should be further developed.
•There is a need to enhance the training available to officers and staff across the
criminal justice system, in particular to increase understanding and empathy with
victims and witnesses, and also to develop skills to better engage with victims and
meet their needs.
•The Police and Crime Commissioner should lead on a rural crime prevention
campaign, to prioritise the victims of rural crime and ensure they are better
protected from repeat offenders.
•The Police and Crime Commissioner should undertake a review of performance
targets across the criminal justice system, to identify ways in which they could
become more focused on meeting the needs of victims and improving outcomes
for them.
•Digital communication and social media should be enhanced to improve
information available for victims.
•Northamptonshire Police should dedicate a key area of their website for victims
and witnesses so that information is easy to access, and so that victims and
witnesses know they are at the heart of services.
September 2013
| 91
92 | Just a Start for Engaging with Victims…
Just a Start for
Engaging with
Victims…
Recommendations
The Victims’ Voice process represents
a real landmark in the engagement of
victims. But it is just a start. The experience
of victimisation is highly diverse, and the
whole of that experience has inevitably
only been partially covered by this project,
despite its scale and the number of people
involved. This work must be just a start.
–a programme of research to engage victims to help ‘see things through their
eyes’, building on the two research projects (with adult victims of violence
and young people as victims) already undertaken in partnership between
Northamptonshire Police and Northampton University.
•The Police and Crime Commission is establishing a new Police, Crime and Justice
Institute hosted at Northampton University to focus on increasing the knowledge
of victim needs and evidence-based practice to better meet those needs. Once
established, the Institute should further develop the following work;
–new approaches to seeking feedback on services provided by the police, and will
broaden current feedback received from victims that focus on specific crimes
types and only on adult victims.
–a process to get regular feedback in respect of victims and witnesses experiences
of the courts.
•A programme of activities building on the creative workshops undertaken in
Victims’ Voice should be developed to allow young people to help design and
improve services across the criminal justice system, with a particular focus on
meeting the needs of young victims.
•The Police and Crime Commissioner should undertake a review of how well the
needs of diverse communities are met across the county. This will include a focus
on how older people’s, people of faith and people from different cultures and
backgrounds needs are met, and how they have opportunity to shape and improve
the services to meet their needs. The Police and Crime Commission’s Office for
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives should play a key role in this
September 2013
Conclusion
This report marks a dramatic new
beginning for victims in Northamptonshire.
The Victims’ Voice has sought to hear from
victims, on their own terms, in their own
words, and about the issues that matter
most to them.
The criminal justice system will only really
improve when it starts to hear the voices
of victims, directly and clearly.
This report is only the start of a
very long road of improvement in
Northamptonshire. But the fact that it
is such a big and important first step on
that journey is thanks to the people who
have shared so much over recent weeks
and months to make this report possible.
The experiences shared are difficult and
often very emotional ones, very personal,
sometimes tragic, often life-changing. The
task for us all now is to make the most of
this priceless insight that has culminated
in this report. To use the insight that the
voices of so many victims have provided to
make a real and lasting difference.
Some of this report is distressing. Much
will have been an uncomfortable read for
many who work across the criminal justice
system. It is important to recognise the
great people who work across criminal
justice, victim support services and
the police. To celebrate the huge and
very genuine commitment they give to
improving the lives of communities and
victims. Most of the failings exposed in
this report are systemic and strategic, they
are organisational and cultural, not the
personal failings of those hard-working
front-line staff. And throughout the report
there is a lot of evidence of the good things
people have experienced during their
times of greatest need, the officers and
staff who have gone the extra mile and
very often made the difference in helping
people to get through the darkest of
moments in their lives.
Too often the whole experience of
victimisation has become overly sanitised,
cloaked in an impenetrable professional
jargon, formalised into processes and
statistics, abstracted away from victim’s
control into legal processes. A broken
jaw, six weeks off work and an emotional
impact that can last a lifetime feels very
much more real than the technocratic
language of crime statistic categories.
Victimisation is a very personal human
experience. Being a victim often changes
lives, and sometimes ruins them.
Somehow this raw reality of being a victim
has become lost within a criminal justice
system that is hard for victims to navigate,
that has become ‘process driven’, that is
‘offender-focused’ and that is shaped more
by the ‘professionals’ who work within it
than by the victims who rely upon it.
Some might argue that these authentic
voices of victims should not be heard in
the way this report allows them to be.
That perhaps it risks being exploitative of
the experiences and emotions of people
who have suffered terribly already. Or
alternatively that exposing so vividly some
of the shortcomings in their experiences
may further reduce the confidence of
other victims to stand up and report
what has happened to them. There is an
argument that a report like this might
make future victims more worried about
the service that they will receive, whether
they will be taken seriously and treated
sensitively, whether they will be believed,
whether they will be protected, how
low the odds might be that their case
would get as far as court, and if it did how
traumatic would the experience of being
a witness in court then be? These risks
are more than balanced by the incredible
change that the victims, who have given
so much to produce this report, begin
to make possible: That we can together
make a reality of a criminal justice system
designed to meet the needs of victims.
This report is a beginning, not a conclusion.
This report marks the start of an intensive
and determined period of change to
create a victim-centred, victim-sensitive,
victim-shaped criminal justice system in
Northamptonshire. We have an obligation
to those who have participated in this
work to act upon what they have now
told us. The recommendations across this
report only represent a start to what needs
to be done, but if they are put into action
quickly and collectively they stand a very
real chance of re-shaping the experience
for future victims and witnesses.
Thank you to the many victims who
have made this report possible.
| 93
94 |
September 2013
Organisations working in ASB response
and support services describe the
implementation of a case management
system and suggest that in
Northamptonshire we are moving towards
a position where organisations will be able
to share information and updates more
easily and quickly.
•The Police and Crime Commissioner
should develop a ‘one stop’ service
for victims of anti-social behaviour, to
avoid victims having to ring around
several different services to receive
the help they need. This service
would enable any type of anti-social
behaviour to be reported to one place
that will coordinate a response across
organisations, and will be a 24/7 service.
•The police should consider how victims
of long-term anti-social behaviour have
a continuity of officer to avoid having
to repeatedly tell their story and ensure
their case is actively and consistently
managed.
•Mainstream victim support services
need to cater for all victims, including
those of anti-social behaviour.
Domestic Violence
•The services to support victims of
domestic abuse should be more actively
and innovatively advertised, to seek
to ensure that all victims of domestic
abuse can be made aware of the support
that is available. For example discreet
messages in places such as GP surgeries,
libraries, places of work and on the radio
where victims can access information
without putting themselves at risk.
•Currently victims are confused about
which support organisations do what,
feeling that some duplicate each other
and others are unavailable in some
areas of the County. Support services
for victims of domestic abuse need to
feel like one service, coordinated by one
agency and coherently explained and
offered to all victims.
•Services currently available to support
the wider family and particularly children
of domestic abuse victims should
be further reviewed to identify any
gaps in current provision, from which
improved services should be developed
which better meets their needs. and
an analysis of the needs of families and
children should be undertaken, to help
design improved services to meet their
needs.
•Currently the onus is on victims of
domestic abuse to collect or show
evidence to prove their victimisation.
This needs to change. Police officers
should offer more help and support to
victims ensuring they feel believed and
officers should take responsibility for
collecting appropriate evidence.
•Local authorities should review their
powers to support victims of domestic
abuse in cases where the victim is
legally in the country but has insecure
immigration status (for example where
the victim is a partner of a British
citizen who is their abuser),and provide
more effective services to them. Victim
support services should improve their
knowledge to support victims in such
circumstances and work collaboratively
with local authorities to implement
more effective services.
Sexual Offences
•The police should further develop the
training available for all police officers
in respect of being ‘first-responder’ in
cases of sexual assault, to improve the
quality of initial contact, manage to
a higher standard the initial stages of
investigation, and ensure a thorough
knowledge of the specialist services
available.
•The current practice of non-specialised
police officers being involved on an
ongoing basis in dealing with and
investigating cases of sexual assault
presents significant risks. Officers
undertaking such sensitive work
should be fully trained and during the
period of transition into such specialist
work should have access to specialist
supervision.
•The police should review whether
sufficient specialist resources are
available to deal with all cases of child
sexual exploitation and ensure these are
readily available when required.
•Arrangements should be put in place to
ensure that all victims of serious sexual
assault and rape attending specialist
centres are able to be examined by a
doctor of the same gender.
•The Police and Crime Commission
should commission an independent
local review of the attrition of serious
sexual assault and rape cases through
the criminal justice system. This review
exercise should consider all discontinued
cases over a period of two years,
including engaging with some of the
victims concerned, to identify clearly
the reasons identified at the time and to
inform current and future practice.
•The Crown Prosecution Service should
explain face to face with the victim
concerned all decisions that they have
taken to discontinue cases of serious
sexual assault and rape. Victims should
also be made aware of their right to
appeal and seek a review of the decision.
•The police should ensure that
arrangements are in place for
confidential reporting of sensitive issues
such as sexual assault are in place in
respect of all front-counter and other
police contact points, and that all frontcounter staff are knowledgeable about
the specialist services that need to be
engaged in such cases.
•Consideration should be given for how
services to support victims of sexual
assault can be developed to better meet
the needs of victims who are reporting
historical abuse.
•An engagement exercise should be
undertaken with young people who have
been victims of online exploitation and
who are vulnerable to such exploitation,
to develop a plan for improved service
provision in the future.
| 95
96 | Summary of Recommendations
Hate Crime
•Hate crime should be more actively and
effectively managed with outcomes
which better satisfy the needs of victims,
particularly in the parts of the county
where this is identified as a pernicious
and ongoing problem.
•Victims and Witnesses need the
reassurance that the principles of
fairness and diversity will be taken
seriously and treated with respect by
the police when they investigate crime.
The police and support agencies should
consider how to further increase the
knowledge and experience of their staff
so they can demonstrate transparency
in their working practices and work
sensitively and effectively with diverse
communities.
•The police need to consider how longerterm cases of hate-based victimisation
are managed, to ensure issues are
‘flagged’ on systems, investigated and
attending officers suitably briefed of the
full circumstances.
•Support services for victims of hate
crime should be designed to provide
long term, quality service that meets
their needs, particularly in relation to
counselling and confidence-building.
•The police should evaluate the current
levels of knowledge and skill across
offices and staff in dealing with hate
crime and the knowledge of offices and
staff in respect of the diversity of their
communities.
•The Northamptonshire Police, Crime
and Justice Institute, once established,
should undertake a research study into
the experiences of victims of hate crime,
in order to shape the improvement of
future services and response.
•The police should identify at an early
stage where a victim or witness does not
speak English as their first language, and
ensure translation services are provided
to ensure the victim or witness is fully
able to communicate the issues or
crimes they are experiencing
•The police should ensure that all new
and established officers and staff are
sufficiently trained in the Keep Safe
Card scheme, for the police to act as
advocates for this scheme, and to ensure
people with learning disabilities are
involved in this training.
•Consistent and specialist advice
and support should be provided for
vulnerable victims including victims
with disabilities and their families.
•Black and Minority Ethnic communities
consistently report dissatisfaction with
how their concerns are dealt with
by the police. The Police and Crime
Commissioner should consider how
their voices are heard and ensure this
information is acted upon.
•The Police should actively engage
with organisations, faith leaders and
the Northampton Rights and Equality
Council, which support the Black and
Ethnic minority communities and
consider how a more collaborative
and mutually accountable working
relationship could be developed to
improve outcomes for victims and
witnesses in the future.
•There are examples of excellent police
engagement with BME communities.
This needs to be scaled up and
mainstreamed across the county. To
achieve this, greater priority should be
given to comprehensive diversity, race
and cultural awareness training for all
police staff.
Roads Victims
•The understanding of victimisation in
respect of serious road collisions and
particularly road deaths should be
broadened to encompass a greater
breadth of family members and others
directly impacted.
•Specialist victim support services should
be commissioned to enhance the
support available to those impacted
by road deaths, with a particular
recognition of the need for support over
the long-term, and beyond the period
when the case is active in respect of
both criminal or Coroner’s courts.
•Support services should be extended to
those who have witnessed serious and
fatal collisions, recognising the need
both for support through related court
process and for support in respect of the
emotional and other trauma involved.
•The police should review the role of
the family liaison officer. These police
officers are highly praised by many
victims and clearly do a committed job,
but there are sometimes ambiguities
between a role as supporter of the
investigation and a role as supporter
of the victim, and options may
be considered in terms of greater
recognition, support and training for
those who undertake the role.
September 2013
•The engagement of victims of serious
road collisions and those bereaved
in respect of road deaths was quite
limited in respect of this Victims’ Voice
project. Specific engagement should be
undertaken with people who have been
victimised as a result of road deaths
and serious road collisions, to better
understand their experience in detail
and to help design services that better
meet their needs
Young Victims
•A new child victim and witness
programme should be developed, to
create services designed around the
specific needs of younger victims.
•The criminal justice system as a whole
has a history of tending to see young
people as a problem, as criminals and
perpetrators of anti-social behaviour. The
reality is many young people are victims,
and most young people make a positive
impact in their local communities.
Consideration should be given by all
criminal justice agencies to training and
development programmes that change
this thinking in respect of young people,
and also to improve officer and staff
training in how to engage positively with
young people, helping to see the world
through their eyes. Young people should
be positively engaged in developing
these new models of training.
•Large-scale work to build the confidence
of young people in the police and
criminal justice system should be
undertaken, to raise the confidence of
young people to report crimes. Young
people should be directly engaged in the
development and delivery of this.
•Support services for victims should be
better advertised to young people, who
often have very low awareness, including
consideration of options such as use of
social media.
•Consideration should be given by
the police as to whether there are
alternative models that young people
could use to report crime, as traditional
ways of reporting (by telephone or, at
police station front counters) may put
many young people off. Many young
people would look for online reporting
as an option.
•Restorative practices should be
developed in schools to help combat
bullying and build positive models for
conflict resolution, often long before a
formal crime is committed.
•Options for the mentoring of young
people should be further enhanced
across the county.
Service Experience – Police
should consider undertaking a scrutiny
of the use of Community Resolutions,
where the police deal informally with
offenders rather than taking them to
court. Some victims questions how
thoroughly aspects of the resolutions are
carried out.
•The police need to explore how to shift
culture to be more strongly victimfocused, empathic, considerate of
victims circumstances and needs, and
more appreciative of the perspective of
victims.
•Some of the issues identified reflect a
concern at the quality of supervision
available to front-line officers in dealing
with cases. The police should develop
models for delivering consistently high
quality supervision.
•The police should improve the provision
of regular, accurate and well explained
updates in a method that is preferred by
and agreed with the victim.
•The 101 number automatic call
answering service currently provides
options for callers to choose from. At
present none of these options offer
‘report a crime or incident’. This should
be changed to present as it is the first
option, the reporting of crime.
Service Experience – Courts and
Crown Prosecution Service
•The Crown Prosecution Service and
police should put arrangements in place
to ensure that victim impact statements
are presented at court.
•Magistrates and judges should consider
how they might provide more detailed
explanations in court about sentences
given. This would address the concern
of many victims and witnesses and
members of the public who do not
understand the sentence given and may
not feel that it is proportionate to the
crime.
•The practice of double listing trials in
courts leads to huge disappointment,
inconvenience and sometimes financial
hardship for victims and witnesses.
While some degree of double listing is
inevitable to deliver an efficient courts
system, this should be kept to the
absolute minimum and take full account
of the likely impact on vulnerable victims
and witnesses.
•The courts should consider greater use
of video links to reduce unnecessary
delays and adjournments, and consider
a widening of the usage for vulnerable
victims.
•Further progress needs to be made
to ensure the guaranteed separation
of areas for victims, witnesses, and
defendants in court buildings.
•Arrangements need to be in place to
provide special measures required by
victims and witnesses in court which
allow the arrangements to be made
in good time before the proceedings
commence and for victims and
witnesses to be assured that the agreed
measures will reliably be available on the
day.
•Provision needs to be available for
victims or witnesses who haven’t
previously identified a need for support
and who then identify needs and
requirements for support and guidance
on the day of court.
| 97
98 | Summary of Recommendations
•The Crown Prosecution Service should
consider how victims are engaged with
the prosecution team prior to court and
throughout the hearing. Often victims
talk of the offender beingclearly on very
familiar terms with their defence team,
but the victim only getting to meet the
team who is prosecuting their case for
the first time on the morning of the
hearing.
•Magistrates should consider ways
to further strengthen links with all
communities and further enhance
their understanding of the experiences
of victims. This could be facilitated
by a programme of visits to different
communities across the areas in which
their courts operate using a similar
model as used by the Business in the
Community programme.
•Options should be considered for
creating a single point for complaint and
service resolution across the criminal
justice system.
Service Experience –
Support Services
•A new victim and witness service should
be built and delivered that;
a) provides a quality, single point of
contact to the entire criminal justice
process, designed around victims’ and
witnesses’ needs, accessible to all,
offering information, updates on case
progression and court processes, liaison
and care for witnesses going through
court, and provides support services for
as long as needed;
b) works closely with the Police and
Crime Commission to deliver quality
commissioning of specialist services, for
example for victims of ASB, domestic
violence and serious or sensitive cases,
such as victims of road collisions and
fatalities;
c) commits to continuously listening
and hearing from victims and witnesses,
championing their needs and providing
feedback to organisations and agencies
in the criminal justice system and
beyond where appropriate.
•Consideration should be given of how
both general and specialist victim
support services can be made more
accessible to people who have chosen
not to formally report their crime but
who still require support.
•Building on the information received
during the Victims’ Voice consultation,
the Police and Crime Commissioner
should further review existing specialist
services for victims and witnesses,
and develop a strategic plan for future
service delivery.
•Across the provision of specialist
services, the training, management
and support of volunteers could be
strengthened. This should be considered
by the Police and Crime Commissioner
as he develops new option for
an integrated model of volunteer
management across criminal justice and
community safety.
•Options should be explored of whether
a ‘cashless voucher’ system could be
developed and piloted for victims of
crime, to allow them grater personal
choice and flexibility in accessing
services how and when they feel best
meets their needs.
Restorative Practices
•Northamptonshire should be established
as a ‘Restorative Practice County’. This
should entail a large-scale increase in
the use of restorative justice, which will
require financial resources to found from
a range of agency budgets.
•Subject to successful evaluation, the
restorative practice pilots across the
county should be replicated in other
areas of the county.
•The use of restorative practice as a
means of early conflict resolution
should be considered in a wide range of
contexts, including schools, partly as a
means of avoiding some crimes arising in
the first place.
•Restorative options should be seriously
considered as a component of
sentencing for all offences, where the
victim wishes this to be the case and
has been engaged and able to make an
informed decision in terms of wishing to
participate.
•An expansive programme of training
should be undertaken to develop
skills and understanding in respect of
restorative practice, to increase the
availability of restorative options to all
victims who desire them.
•The new Police, Crime and Justice
Institute, once established, should
function as a ‘local evidence hub’ for
restorative practice, to support the
development of quality practice to
support victims.
Working Together
should work to set the strategic direction
and consolidate and strengthen
commissioning of victims services,
to improve outcomes for victims and
provide enhanced qualities of service to
them.
Bringing it all Together
•There are examples of excellent practice
in working with victims and witnesses
across the county. This needs to be
celebrated and encouraged. An annual
award for best practice in meeting
victim’s needs would be an effective way
to celebrate and champion this work.
•The National Victims’ Code of Practice
is going to become a statutory
obligation and should be embraced and
implemented locally. Currently this is
about policing and should be considered
for implementation across the agencies
of the criminal justice system.
•A pilot is already being developed for
a Northamptonshire Victim’s Contract,
setting out in straightforward terms
the service that victim and witnesses
should expect across the criminal justice
system, and this work should be further
developed.
•There is a need to enhance the training
available to officers and staff across the
criminal justice system, in particular to
increase understanding and empathy
with victims and witnesses, and also
September 2013
to develop skills to better engage with
victims and meet their needs.
should lead on a rural crime prevention
campaign, to prioritise the victims of
rural crime and ensure they are better
protected from repeat offenders.
should undertake a review of
performance targets across the criminal
justice system, to identify ways in which
they could become more focused
on meeting the needs of victims and
improving outcomes for them.
•Digital communication and social
media should be enhanced to improve
information available for victims.
•Northamptonshire Police should
dedicate a key area of their website
for victims and witnesses so that
information is easy to find, and so that
victims and witnesses know they are at
the heart of services.
–a process to get regular feedback
in respect of victims and witnesses
experiences of the courts.
•A programme of activities building on
the creative workshops undertaken in
Victims’ Voice should be developed to
allow young people to help design and
improve services across the criminal
justice system, with a particular focus on
meeting the needs of young victims.
should undertake a review of how well
the needs of diverse communities are
met across the county. This will include
a focus on how older people’s, people
of faith and people from different
cultures and backgrounds needs are
met, and how they have opportunity
to shape and improve the services to
meet their needs. The Police and Crime
Commission’s Office for Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives should play a key
role in this.
Just a Start for Engaging
with Victims…
•The Police and Crime Commission is
establishing a new Police, Crime and
Justice Institute hosted at Northampton
University to focus on increasing
the knowledge of victim needs and
evidence-based practice to better meet
those needs. Once established, the
Institute should further develop the
following work;
–a programme of research to
engage victims to help ‘see things
through their eyes’, building on
the two research projects (with
adult victims of violence and
young people as victims) already
undertaken in partnership between
Northamptonshire Police and
Northampton University.
–new approaches to seeking feedback
on services provided by the police,
and will broaden current feedback
received from victims that focus on
specific crimes types and only on adult
victims.
| 99
100 | Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank victims and witnesses who shared
their stories with us. Thank you for your open and honest,
and at times frank descriptions of your experiences, that
we appreciate were difficult for you at times. Without you
Victims’ Voice would not have been possible.
Secondly we would like to thank staff and volunteers
within and around criminal justice agencies and support
organisations working with victims and witnesses for giving
your views and experiences through surveys and attending
roundtable events.
Thirdly thank you to all the organisations working with victims
and witnesses, and community groups, and community
leaders for your contribution in assisting us in promoting
Victims’ Voice, in accessing victims and witnesses and also
helping with the organisation of this work. Several staff and
volunteers within organisations and departments went over
and above their duties to help us in this work, we would
particularly like to thank;
Anti-social behaviour units across Northamptonshire
East Midlands Group Crown Prosecution Service
East Northamptonshire Council and Community Safety
Partnership
C2C
Connexions Northamptonshire
Corby Borough Council and Community Safety Partnership
Daventry District Council and Daventry and South
Northamptonshire Community Safety Partnership
Eric Montgomerie
Federation of Small Businesses
Groundwork
Kettering Borough Council and Community Safety Partnership
Neighbourhood Watch
Nene Valley Christian Family Refuge
Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs
Northampton Borough Council and Community Safety Partnership
Northamptonshire Children and Young People’s Partnership
Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service
Northamptonshire Independent Advisory Group
Northamptonshire Police – with particular thanks to staff in the
audio and copy typing team, community engagement officers,
hate crime unit, high tech crime team, research officers, road
collision unit, witness care unit
Northamptonshire Probation Service
Northamptonshire Rights and Equality Council
Northamptonshire Sunflower Centre
Northampton Volunteering Centre
Northampton Women’s Aid
Northamptonshire Youth Offending Service
MENCAP
Rape and Incest Crisis Centre
Serenity (SARC)
Service Six
Sunflower Centre
University of Northampton
Victim Support – including Witness Service
Wellingborough Borough Council
Wellingborough & East Northamptonshire Women’s Aid
Wellingborough Homes
More information from
www.northantpcc.org.uk
Design: www.paulmartinassociates.com
Published by
The Northamptonshire Police and Crime
Commissioner September 2013

Victims` Voice - Northamptonshire Police

Transcription

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