Youth offending - restorative justice

If you are a victim of youth crime in the London Borough of Richmond you will be offered the opportunity to become involved in restorative justice.

Restorative justice offers you the chance to become directly or indirectly involved with the young person who committed the crime. You can have your loss or harm acknowledged, questions answered and amends made where possible.

How does it work?

There are many different forms of restorative justice, designed to suit different cases and varying needs. It can be used for a wide range of incidents from minor anti-social behaviour, like graffiti, to more serious crimes such as assault and robbery.

It is voluntary for all parties and each case is carefully risk assessed before people take part.

For more information download our restorative justice leaflet(pdf, 409KB).

Types of restorative justice

The most common forms of restorative justice are listed below:

A restorative meeting

You can meet face-to-face with the young offender at a restorative meeting in the presence of a specially trained facilitator. Every meeting is carefully planned and organised and enables direct communication between all parties. It can help victims ask questions and hear directly from the young person. If appropriate, they can work together on an agreement describing what they will do to address the harm done and discuss any supervised programme they will do to address the causes of offending.

Shuttle mediation

You can have contact with the young person without meeting face-to-face through shuttle mediation. The restorative justice facilitator can talk to both parties separately, ensure your views are put across and seek to find out answers to any questions by passing information between the parties. If you wish to hear directly, audio equipment can also be used.

Written communication

If you wish to receive a letter of apology or receive another form of supervised written communication, then this can be arranged. You can also write a letter about the impact of the offence on you that can be read to the young person.

Regular updates

The Youth Offending Service (YOS) can keep you informed of the young offender’s sentence and progress.

Testimonial

Feedback following a RJ conference from a victim of assault recently stated:

“It was good to meet the person because that way I was able to tell him what I had gone through. I am very happy with the outcome of the meeting and without the help of the Youth Offending Team it would have been very hard for me to cope with it all.”

Find out more

Contact Alison Carey:

Restorative Justice
Richmond Youth Offending Service
42 York Street
Twickenham
TW1 3BW

Tel: 020 8487 5373
Email: a.carey@richmond.gov.uk