91福利社

Called 鈥榬estorative justice鈥�, offenders can experience first hand the amount of damage they鈥檝e caused by putting it right.

Learning a lesson

One of the scheme鈥檚 success stories is Andrew, who smashed some lights in a car park whilst drunk.

As a result of his actions he painted the walls of the building and met with the car park manager 鈥� during the process his 鈥渆yes were opened鈥� to the problems his vandalism caused.

鈥淚 was quite shocked how much it cost and how much time it took to get it all put back together again,鈥� he said.

鈥淚 felt really bad about it and just wanted to help them get back as much as they could鈥 found it beneficial as I know I鈥檓 not going to go and do it again.鈥�

Should the vandal fix this?

Only for the remorseful

Chantelle Rose, a restorative justice officer, explained that the scheme is only for the truly remorseful offenders who take full responsibility for their actions.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 necessarily come from me - sometimes it鈥檒l be prisoners or offenders wanting to take part. If I feel that they鈥檙e suitable then I approach the victim,鈥� said Chantelle.

'Completely voluntary'

鈥淚t鈥檚 completely voluntary on both sides,鈥� she explained. 鈥淭he idea is to help the victim, we don鈥檛 want to re-victimise and upset them more 鈥� it鈥檚 something positive.鈥�

鈥淯sually by the end of the process it鈥檚 something that everybody鈥檚 happy with and that鈥檚 what is so great about it.鈥�

What do you think?

Do you think the restorative justice scheme is a good idea?

Do you think all offenders should be forced to right their wrongs?