Criminals put before victims, says Baroness

CRIMINALS have more rights than victims in Britain, the Victims’ Commissioner says today, as she calls for a law to redress the balance.

Baroness Newlove, who lost her husband Garry 10 years ago after he was attacked by a gang on the doorstep of his Warrington home, is set to argue that while offenders have their rights “enshrined” in the European Convention for Human Rights, victims are protected only by a code described by lawyers as “persuasive guidance”. She will tell the Victims’ Conference in London: “So much has changed over the past 10 years. And yet, sadly, while countless initiatives have improved victim support, to many, the focus on the rights and needs of offenders, often appears to be at the expense of victims.

“Sometimes this can be startlingly obvious – victims being told not to cry when CCTV footage in court shows their loved one being beaten. Sexual abuse victims being informed their [Independent Sexual Violence Adviser] cannot be with them during the ordeal of giving evidence at trial. Or rape victims quizzed about their sexual history despite no court application to do so.” Among the plans she suggests are rights to request a review when charges are dropped or reduced and the right to be consulted on the conditions of an offender’s release or discharge.

Her speech adds: “Politicians constantly tell us that they’re committed to ‘putting victims at the heart of the criminal justice system’. So why do victims complain how the justice system leaves them feeling like bystanders?”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Victims must get the support they need to recover from the devastating effects of crime.”