Call for victim impact statements to be mandatory

Victim Support has called for victim impact statements to be made mandatory, following numerous cases where victims were not asked how the crime had affected their lives.

Ms Lillian McGovern, Victim Support's chief executive, said these statements had a therapeutic benefit for victims and gave them a sense of closure. Gardaí should collate the statements because they had a relationship with the victim.

The statements should also be used, and updated if necessary, where cases were reviewed or assessed for early release.

The Government's Victims' Charter stated that the victim must be informed in cases of appeals, reviews and early releases, but this was not happening, Ms McGovern said. Experts should ensure that this was being implemented.

She said the lack of support for victims was highlighted by the case of a 13-year-old girl who was raped by a local man. While the court case was going on, the girl and her family had to wait in a local hotel with the defendant and his relatives. "It was hugely traumatic," Ms McGovern said.

The girl's name was inadvertently mentioned in court, and this was reported in the media.

The offender was sentenced to four years but was released after one, following a review. "The first the family knew about it was when the girl was on her way home from school. She saw him on the other side of the street. Nobody told them the case was coming up," Ms McGovern said.

During the review, the judge asked about the effect of the attack on the girl. But because no victim impact statement had been sought from her, prosecuting counsel could not provide the information.

"The family feel that the entire system let them down. They went into the system thinking it was there to protect and support them," she said.

It took one year and a month for the case to come up. "That has a very serious effect on people, in terms of the whole strain and pressure of a court case pending," Ms McGovern said.

Priority must be given to providing a much shorter waiting time for criminal cases and a fast-tracking system must be introduced for the more serious cases. "We have families with us who have had someone murdered and are waiting up to three years for the case to come to court. Their lives don't begin to move on at all until after the court case," she said.

Victim Support has also called for a broadening of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. Compensation for pain and suffering was removed from the scheme in 1986 because of a lack of funding but, Ms McGovern said, this must be reintroduced.

In murder cases Victim Support has called on the State to appoint an advocate to liaise with the family during the investigation and court process.

Meanwhile, a survey of Victim Support clients has found that 97 per cent were "affected" by the crime in the first few days while one in two was "very much affected".