Victim Support

Working with victims

Dorset Probation Trust provides a service for individuals and their families who are victims of serious crime through the services of a Victim Liaison Officer

Their role is to contact all victims of violent or sexual crime, where the offender received a prison sentence of 12 months or more or has been made the subject of a Hospital Order, and keep them informed about the offender’s sentence. This includes cases where a life sentence has been passed.

They help victims by:

• informing them about how the prison sentence will run
• suggesting how any concerns they have can be dealt with
• informing them when the prisoner will be due for release on licence
• passing their views to the Parole Board as part of the Parole Process by assisting them to update their Victim Impact Statement
• requesting extra conditions in the licence, such as prohibiting offenders from contacting the victim and excluding them from certain areas by implementing exclusion zones.

Probation staff who work with victims do not have any involvement with the offender.

The Home Office have recently reviewed the The Victim's Charter as part of the move to put victims at the heart of the criminal justice system. As a result, they are replacing the Victims' Charter with the Victims' Code of Practice - a document that will give victims of crime statutory rights for the first time. The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime was published on 18 October 2005, and will become law in April 2006.

Victim Support

For details of the nearest Victim Support and Witness Service scheme

Tel: 0845 3030 900