Victim meets attacker as part of justice scheme
Woman traumatised by robbery praises radical programme
AWOMAN who was smashed over the head at a cashpoint before fighting off the robber agreed to meet her attacker as part of a police restorative justice programme.
Lisa Reid was at the hole-in-thewall in Darlaston when she was ambushed from behind.
The thug appeared from nowhere, smacking her over the head with a glass bottle, as CCTV footage from the attempted mugging showed.
Despite the severity of the blow, Ms Reid managed to fight back against the robber – who got more than he bargained for.
The pair grappled at the cashpoint for a few seconds before the attacker fled the scene.
Despite her courage in the heat of the moment, the attack, which happened in 2019, left Ms Reid shaken and scared.
However, she has now accepted the opportunity to meet her attacker in prison as part of a police justice programme, which aims to make criminals see the impact of their offending and change their ways.
It was a nerve-wracking experience coming face-to-face with her attacker but Ms Reid says it gave her the closure she needed and made her see the attacker wasn’t “evil”, despite what he did to her.
The pair spoke about what happened and the devastating impact it had on her.
She said: “I think I got a lot more from this than I would have done from being in court. It helped me understand why it happened and the circumstances around the person who did it. It’s so easy to make the offender the villain.
“It’s nice to go in there and understand they aren’t evil. I came out of there, and I just felt so good.
“When it happened, I cannot fault the police, but the fact that you’ve got this service that supports victims in making something good come from a bad situation is just fantastic and it’s good knowing we aren’t just locking people up and punishing them, but are helping to change their ways too.”
The meeting was paid for by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC) office and arranged by Remedi,
one of the organisations that provide the restorative justice service in our region.
West Midlands PCC Simon Foster is now calling for more funding for such programmes in an effort to cut reoffending.
Some 98% of offenders say coming face-to-face with their victim increases their motivation not to reoffend.
Mr Foster said: “I’m calling on the Government to urgently fund tough initiatives that have the power to stop criminals offending.
“We must bring offenders to justice for their crimes, but simply locking them up doesn’t work enough of the time. We also need to tackle their underlying behaviour and to do that the Government is going to need to produce adequate funding.”