Assault Resulting in ABH

A male had intervened to prevent a domestic assault, and had himself been badly assaulted by the offender, causing ABH injuries. The offender had been sentenced to a term of imprisonment, and had subsequently been released back into the community and was working closely with probation. The father of the victim had been badly affected by the assault on his son, and wanted to meet the offender to explain how the assault had affected both himself and his son.

A face to face conference took place in August 2019 at the offices of probation in Newport.  The victim’s father was able to tell the offender about the impact of the assault on his son, his family, and the wider community. The offender voluntarily agreed to pay £400 compensation for dental charges and to write a letter of apology.

The offender provided positive feedback after the meeting, and his probation officer stated that it had been a difficult but positive experience for him.  As a result of the meeting, the victim of the assault has now met the offender in a restorative justice conference. The probation officer also fed back that they would be advocating the use of Restorative Justice as a further contribution to reparation and reducing offending, and that Restorative Justice information should be included within their induction process. He also added that it had been invaluable to observe the interactions between the harmed and the harmer.