Restorative Justice Week 2024
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
We want to tell you about restorative justice week, and why it is important.
Restorative Justice (RJ) is about bringing victims and offenders together, after a crime has been committed.
It’s a voluntary process and is an opportunity for the offender to apologise and victims to get answers to any questions they may have.
A meeting between victim and offenders is run by highly trained facilitators and each case is individually considered to see if it is the right thing to do.
International RJ Week takes place every year, beginning on the 3rd Sunday of November.
For international RJ week this week, we want to tell you about Donna and Vicky, whose parents were killed in a collision where a drink driver was responsible.
This is their story:
On 11th November 2018, Donna and Vicky’s parents were travelling home northbound on the approach to J 31A on the M6 when they were hit by another driver. Both died following the collision.
The driver was sentenced to 8 years for Dangerous Driving and has since been released from prison.
Donna and Vicky elected to take part in restorative justice, meeting the offender in prison.
They also met with the paramedics that attempted to save their mum and dad as part of restorative justice.
Speaking about their experience in May 2022, Donna and Vicky said: “I think we all needed that, and I think he needed that as well, because you could clearly see that he was sorry.”
They added: “We were raised by good people, so to bring that out in there, and remember that this is something mum probably would have done – that’s one of the reasons why we did it.”
They ended with: “We had a lot of hate for so long, and hate is exhausting, its mentally, physically tiring. We’ll never forgive, never ever forgive, but I don’t hate him.”
Helena Cryer, Restorative Justice Manager for Lancashire Constabulary said: “RJ week is really important for raising awareness of what restorative justice does.
“It can, for the right people and in the right circumstances, be life changing. We would always encourage anyone who is interested in the RJ procedure to get in contact.”
You can contact the RJ team on and find more information on RJAdmin@lancashire.police.uk and find more information on LANCASHIRE POLICE - Lancashire Constabulary
