I am annoyed with myself because I was unable to write a victim impact statement.

[JamBiscuitBun]

I really wanted to have my voice and let the judge & defendant know just how terrible it had been for me. But despite having years to prepare, I could never find words that expressed the gravity of it strongly enough. I was in a haze. When the time came the end rushed up as the jury decided within half an hour. I thought they might be out for a week or so giving me more time. Sentencing happened the same day and my impact was never taken into account because I just couldn't find the words. 😔

Did you not have any support from your solicitor / family liaison officer?

I only met my barrister 30mins before entering court

Didn't have a liason officer whatever that is

I’ve always assumed that these are just a smokescreen to make the victims feel that they’re being included in the process (and to furnish some emotive snippets for the media) rather than make any difference to the sentencing.

They absolutely do matter. Also the parole board check them too.

If you want to DM me I can tell you if you'll be eligible for the VLO scheme, all I need to know is the offence and the sentence he got. If you are you can make a statement for any parole hearing and the VLO (supplied by probation but only works with victims and next of kin) will help you to do it. I can probably also find details of how to contact your local Victim Contact unit

@JennyDarlingRIP

if the op is eligible, they will write to her

0.2 How do I opt-in?
One of our Victim Liaison Officers will firstly write to ask if you would like to receive contact.

Where possible, they will also offer to visit you

@Vegrocks they will but not immediately, we've also had several high risk cases recently where the referral to VCU was never made and this only flagged up via MAPPA or offender management when release planning was underway and release imminent, checks are then done to see if bespoke victim measures are required for composition of licence restrictions shortly before expected release at which point the VCU realise they never received a referral and are then getting in touch with victims or NOK years after an offence, when they've had no opportunity to be involved in the process. It's reliant on witness care to refer not the court system itself, this appears to be a national and increasing problem according to a national meeting I had last month. I wouldn't want her to miss out if she was eligible, or get her hopes up if she isn't when I could answer her question in a few minutes