Probation board launch community service strategy

Deputy Director of Probation Cheryl Lamont and Chief Executive of Victim Support Susan Reid visited a Community Service project in Londonderry city centre to mark the launch.

Deputy Director of the Probation Board Cheryl Lamont said: "Community Service is the most successful community sentence in Northern Ireland in terms of preventing re-offending.

"Three out of four people who complete community service are not reconvicted in two years. It has the lowest reconviction rate of all community sentences in Northern Ireland.

"The new strategy seeks to build on the strengths of the scheme currently administered by PBNI and makes recommendations for change which will enhance the contribution it makes to addressing crime in the community.

"For example, victims and victim groups will be consulted about the work that offenders undertake. It is essential that the voices of victims are heard within the criminal justice system and we believe that consulting with victims in this way will empower them and send out a strong signal that their views are critical. Community Service will also be undertaken for victims and victim groups.

"The new strategy will also extend partnerships with the voluntary and community sector and links with District Councils will be developed.

"Today's visit by the Chief Executive of Victim Support to a Community Service project is an important endorsement of the work carried out by PBNI and enables one of the key organisations representing victims to see first hand how effective Community Service is, in preventing re-offending and making a contribution to safer communities.

The Chief Executive of Victim Support Susan Reid added: "At Victim Support Northern Ireland we very much welcome PBNI's revised strategy.

"Their efforts to take on board the views of victims; considering their needs and moving their services towards a victim focus, are all important developments and those which we would hold up as examples of good practice to other agencies in the sector.

"The criminal justice system relies almost entirely on victims of crime being supported to come forward - reporting crime to police, attending court as a witness and giving evidence for the prosecution - and so it is only right that they are the focus of our work."

Probation Board member Joe McKeever concluded: "Community Service is a visible and practical method of ensuring offenders pay something back to the community while at the same time helping offenders to develop skills they can use in the future which will prevent them continuing in a cycle of crime

"The revised strategy will enable us to work more effectively in partnership with others to make communities throughout Northern Ireland safer."