Bereaved to tell of crime impact

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/7021290.stm

Version 0 of 1.

A scheme allowing families of victims of murder and manslaughter to have a statement read out on their behalf in court has been expanded.

It now applies to every court in England and Wales and will also include cases of death by dangerous driving.

The scheme gives the bereaved an opportunity in open court to describe the impact that the death of their loved one has had.

It has been piloted in five courts for the past year.

From Monday it applies to all new homicide cases in England and Wales, including - for the first time - death by dangerous driving.

'Two-tier system'

Prosecutors will help families prepare a statement, and read it in court for them, after conviction and before sentencing.

The judge can take into account the consequences of the killing, but the judiciary have been at pains to stress that they will not be influenced by emotion or opinions about the sentence.

The attorney general insisted earlier this year the statements help judges see the true consequences of a crime.

Lord Goldsmith said: "Where the impact has been significant then that will affect the sentence and in some other cases it may not."

Critics have argued the Victim's Advocate scheme creates a two-tier system of punishment in which tougher sentences are given to offenders who have killed someone whose relatives are more eloquent.

The pilot ran at the Old Bailey in London and at crown courts in Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Winchester.