Making agony of loss easier to bear

IT IS almost unimaginable for any parent to think how they would react if their son or daughter was murdered.

The grief and pain that surely follows such an atrocity must be overwhelming.

Mum Bea Jones suffered that experience when her daughter, businesswoman Moira Jones, was murdered in Glasgow in 2008.

She tells in the Daily Record today how the ordeal left her “ready to break”. Despite her anguish, Bea set up a foundation to help the families of murder victims cope.

And she was surprised to find that there was no dedicated service in Scotland to help the families of murder victims.

A service delivering this guidance was established in England seven years ago but only now is Scotland catching up.

A new Homicide Service – announced yesterday with £1.2million of Government suppport – will offer the grieving families of murder victims a single point of contact, a dedicated caseworker who can liaise with every other public service on their behalf.

Often the relatives of victims are left to repeat their upsetting circumstances to schools, employers, social services, medical and legal services.

They can also be left bemused by the legal system at a time when they are already experiencing unbearable grief.

There should now be someone there to guide families through this traumatic time. It is a service that is much needed – and should have been in place already.

There are many good agencies who work in victim support. Everyone wants to do their best for the bereaved and this co-ordinated approach should make the trauma of loss easier to handle.