WIREDGOV

Justice Secretary hears about new measures for victims and witnesses. 

A new fund providing more than a million pounds a year of practical help for victims of crime is set to be introduced in the coming months as part of the Scottish Government’s package of measures to improve the support for victim and witnesses in Scotland.

Today, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill visited Victim Support Scotland in Glasgow as important measures in the Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014 came into force.

Mr MacAskill also heard about how arrangements are being put in place for the new fund, paid for by offenders, which will provide more than a million pounds a year of new funding towards providing practical help for victims of crime. The Victim Surcharge Fund will be established in the next few months and is likely to be administered by Victim Support Scotland.

Mr MacAskill met victims who have already received help through an existing fund run by VSS. Christine and Jim Tierney of Pumpherston used the fund to help pay for their son Jim’s funeral, after he was murdered in the town in 2011. Siobahn Melrose of West Lothian was able to use the money to move her belongings into a new home, enabling her to start again after leaving her violent ex-partner.

The Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014 was passed by the Scottish Parliament in December 2013 to improve the experience of victims and witnesses of crime. Elements of the legislation which came into force today include:

• The right for victims of sexual offences, domestic abuse, human trafficking and stalking to choose the gender of their police interviewer.
• Allowing victims to make oral representations to the Parole Board on the release of prisoners serving life sentences.
• Allowing victims to make written representations to the Scottish Prison Service on the temporary release of prisoners
• Increasing the flexibility around the submission of victim statements and lowering the age at which victims can make a statement in their own right from 14 to 12.

Mr MacAskill said: “The measures coming into force today mark a major milestone in improving the rights of, and support for, victims in our justice system.

“Today I have heard the harrowing stories of victims of crime and the very real and practical support Victim Support Scotland was able to offer at such a difficult time.

“I look forward to working with them on delivering the new fund, which will build on the vital assistance already offered while providing support on a far greater scale.

“We are working with our justice partners and victim support organisations to ensure that the important reforms coming into force today, along with further measures introduced by the Act, will help place victims and witnesses at the heart of our justice system, making them feel involved and hopefully, better able to cope with their experiences.”

David McKenna, Chief Executive of Victim Support Scotland, welcomed the measures in the Act coming into force today, describing them as a major advance in supporting victims of crime in Scotland.

He added: "Once established, the new Victim Surcharge Fund will ensure that when people are most in need, when they have nowhere else to turn, that Victim Support Scotland will, through the fund, be able to provide the services they require."

Notes To Editors

Christine and Jim Tierney

The family of 27-year old murder victim Jim Tierney, who was killed in Pumpherston on April 2, 2011.

Mother: Christine (63) Father: Jim (65) an engineering worker.

The family also have a daughter Yvonne (35).

The family has been assisted by Victim Support Scotland since the death of their son and are still receiving support. In addition to help in making a Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) claim, the VSS Victims Fund helped with the burial of their son by paying a sum directly to the undertaker as they did not have any savings or access to funds.

To this day, Jim finds it very difficult to talk about the death of his son but Christine says that without the help of the Victims Fund, she does not know how they could have afforded to bury their son:

“Friends and family helped as much as they could but there was no way we could bridge the gap between the funds we had access to and the amount we needed to bury Jim.

“Victim Support Scotland has been there for us whenever we have needed them. We did not know that such a thing as this fund existed and it was a huge relief to discover that financial help was there.

“I now know that it was Victim Support Scotland’s fundraising arm which, with the help of the Scottish Government, established the fund and that in the last five years it has provided support and services to a lot of people who had no other means of paying for what they needed.

“Our family will be forever grateful to all involved in establishing the original fund and the new fund should ensure that people like us who have nowhere else to turn to can also receive support.”

Siobhan Melrose

Siobhan (27) lived in a West Lothian town with an abusive partner from 2010-2013.

She had her own home and her partner was someone she had gone to school with. He had his own home in a nearby town.

At first their life together was good and they were planning for the future. However, there were occasions, particularly after her partner had been drinking, that he became physically abusive.

At first Siobhan made allowances. However, she soon realised that he was not allowing her to associate with her own friends, or to hold down a job anywhere where other males were employed. The physical and mental abuse continued until, in 2013, her partner left their home to return to his own.

Siobhan's parents took her on a holiday to Bulgaria. On her return she was visited by the police who were investigating complaints of abuse made by other victims of her ex-partner.

Siobhan became aware that she was being followed and monitored by friends of her ex-partner and that she would have to move away from her home and family to be safe. She had no access to any funds to enable her to do so but her father had arranged contact on her behalf with VSS. VSS was able, via the Victims Fund, to provide financial support to a company to help her relocate her possessions to an address in Glasgow.

Siobhan says:

"I knew I was not safe staying where I was and that I was being followed on a regular basis. My ex-partner was sent to prison for his assault and abuse of a number of women, including me, but if seemed that his friends were holding me accountable. For my own safety and that of my family I had to get away.

“The financial support the VSS provided was great. I really had nowhere else to turn and for an individual in the situation I was facing the assistance I got to move myself to a place of relative safety was fantastic.

“Victims of crime must have someone that they can turn to in a crisis and it is commendable that the Government and Victim Support Scotland are working in partnership to provide such support wherever it is needed."

Unable to attend the event:

Family of 21-year old murder victim Daniel Turner, who was killed in Glenrothes on October 18, 2013. Perpetrator received life sentence with minimum tariff of 18 years

Mother: Corinne (46) Father: Kevin (45) a warehouseman.

The family, including sister Kelly (20), a Fife Council worker who is due to be married next year, and Bradley (14) a pupil of Beath High School, have been supported by Victim Support Scotland throughout and are very vocal in praising the work done with them and the help provided, particularly in respect of the VSS Victims Fund.

They did not have any savings or access to funds and the VSS Victims Fund paid £1,000 towards the burial costs of their son.

Mother Corinne said that without that assistance they would not have been able to bury their son. “£1,000 is a month’s wage to this family. We simply did not have the money to bury Daniel and no one, unless they have suffered what we have following the death of a son, will be able to appreciate the anguish and strain we were under. Victim Support Scotland has been there for us throughout. Our support worker has been wonderful and I really appreciate the ongoing support that she provides.”

“The new and enlarged Victims Fund is very good news for people like us and the Government and Victim Support Scotland should be given all credit for creating it. I can see that such a fund could help many more victims at a time when they have nowhere else to turn.”