New payback justice: Both sides of the fence
Mar 11, 2010
from Neal Keeling's article in Manchester Evening News:
Ruth Edmunds and Peter Woolf have been on either side of the Restorative Justice programme – and both believe it works.
Ruth decided to meet a teenage boy who was in a gang of three vandals that wrecked a Scout hut in Poynton, Cheshire, where she worked as a volunteer.
Peter's life changed for ever when he met the man he attacked and left bleeding during a burglary. Seven years on, he hasn't reoffended.
Ruth said: “The cost of the damage was about £700 – money we had raised through Christmas fairs and other events.
“The police caught one of those responsible and called me to ask if I wanted to take part in the programme.
“We met up with the boy at the Scout hut. He had his parents with him. What their son had done was out of character.
“I had the chance to ask him why he had done it and he was genuinely remorseful. It was agreed that he he would not be charged if he agreed to pay back a few pounds every month from his own money towards the cost of the damage.
....Peter, from London, broke into the home of Will Riley in a bid to steal to fund his heroin addiction. At the time he was committing up to ten crimes a day.
But Will was at home and the two men fought on the stairs.
Peter was arrested outside Will's home and later jailed. But he agreed to meet Will.
He was left stunned as Will powerfully explained how the incident had affected him.
Will said: “It came out like a fire I told him 'you broke into my house, you destroyed my belief in my ability to protect my family.' For Peter it was like a train hitting him.”
Peter said: “I never knew it made people feel that bad, sad, angry, isolated.
