What will happen after the trial?
After court, it is OK to plan something that your child will
enjoy, but on the day many children are tired after giving
evidence. Don’t promise your child a special present or treat
for ‘doing well’ at court. Being a witness is not about doing well
or badly. You can praise your child for telling the court the
truth about what happened.
Some children blame themselves for the court’s decision, perhaps
thinking they were not ‘good enough’ at giving evidence. A child
giving evidence for the prosecution might feel that a ‘not guilty’
verdict means that the court thought he or she had lied. Reassure
your child that telling the truth is what is important. Let the
child know that he or she is in no way responsible for what the
court decides.
Your feedback can help improve services for other young
witnesses. If procedures for your child were handled well, please
make this known. If you wish to make a complaint, the Charter for
Court Users contains advice about complaints concerning Crown
Court staff or other criminal justice agencies. You can get a copy
from the Crown Court. Magistrates’ Courts have separate complaints
procedures. For advice, contact the court’s Customer Service
Officer .
If the defendant is sent to prison
Prisoners are not allowed to get in touch with victims or
victims’ families without permission. You can call the National
Offender Management Service Victim Helpline if your child has
received unwelcome contact, including letters or telephone calls,
from a prisoner. You can also tell the Helpline if you are anxious
about the possible temporary release, parole or fi nal release of a
prisoner.
The Helpline staff will pass on the details to the prison
governor, who will then investigate and decide what action to take.
The Helpline cannot pass information back to you, but it will confi
rm in writing that your concerns have been passed on to the
governor, who may write later and tell you what action has been
taken.
The Helpline number is 08457 585112 and the
line is open between 9am and 4pm, Mondays to
Fridays. An answering machine operates outside these
hours. All calls are charged at local rates.
Where the defendant is sentenced to four years or more for a
sexual or other violent offence, a Probation Officer will get in
touch with you within two months of the sentence and, if you
wish, when release is being considered. The purpose is to give you
information about the prison system and the length of the
prisoner’s sentence. If you wish, you may also make known your
views when decisions are made about the defendant’s eventual
release. In carrying out this work, Probation Officers often work
closely with Victim Support, other victims’ organisations and
any social worker who may be in touch with you.
Compensation
Children may suffer injury or distress as a victim of, or
eyewitness to, a crime of violence (including sexual offences). In
such cases you may make a claim for fi nancial compensation on your
child’s behalf through the Criminal Injuries Compensation
Authority. This can happen even if there was no prosecution or
conviction. The Authority has a special leaflet called Child Abuse
and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. This leafl et and
claim forms can be obtained from:
Criminal Injuries Compensation
Authority
Tay House
300 Bath Street
Glasgow G2 4LN
Telephone: 0141 331 2726
www.cica.gov.uk
If you need help in completing the claim form, you can ask a
local Victim Support scheme.
Going to court