‘Refocus justice on victims, not criminals’
By politics.co.uk staff
The mother of murdered child Sarah Payne is calling on the government to fundamentally reshape the justice system.
In a report out today Sara Payne will call for the government to concentrate justice on ensuring victims of crime are able to recover and get on with their lives.
The victims’ champion, whose daughter was murdered by a known paedophile in 2000, wants to draw attention to the vast majority of victims of crime who never see their case go to court.
“We need to think about what is justice for these people,” she told the BBC.
“I think we are not inclusive of people – we don’t ask people what they need and we really need to start doing that at an early stage.”
Justice secretary Jack Straw stepped up his efforts to address support for victims in his speech to the Labour party conference in September.
A National Victims Service will be launched next year, he pledged.
