Case One

A young man who had assaulted and robbed a frail elderly man in his own home wanted to make an apology for what he had done. The victim, who had suffered a stroke some years previously, was unable to speak. Through his sister he communicated a list of questions that he wanted to have answered. It was not felt that a direct meeting was appropriate in the circumstances.

The offender was able to answer these questions verbally and wrote a letter of apology to the victim. He struggled with this as he had limited literacy skills but wanted to be sure that the victim knew it was from him. In particular he was concerned that the apology he could offer would be understood to be genuine.

When the victim received this letter he was delighted as he felt it reflected a better recognition of his position than had previously been the case.

The offender had worked whilst in custody and saved his money. On his release he contacted us to ask that we could pass on a watch he had bought with this money to replace the one he had stolen. We contacted the victim to offer him this possibility and found he was pleased to accept it. Both parties expressed a high level of satisfaction at the communication they had been able to have.

Case Two

The offender, a young man, had needed money to fund his heroin addiction and attempted to rob a shop in his local area. Whilst serving a custodial sentence he referred himself for mediation with a desire to apologise for his actions. The victim, who owned the shop, had not been overly disturbed by the crime, in particular because he felt that he had acted effectively to protect himself.

The victim’s interest in mediation rested on having found out at the time of sentencing that he knew the offender, who had worn a mask at the time of the offence. He expressed curiosity as to why he had attempted to rob a shop so close to home and about the situation he was in at the time. As the offender was in a prison some distance away he was not sure that he wanted to take the time out from his business to meet with him.

Through indirect mediation the offender was able to answer to the victim’s questions and also wrote a letter of apology to him expressing his regret and shame at his actions.

Both parties felt that this helped in dealing with what had happened and that they were better equipped to deal with the likelihood that they would meet after the offender’s release from prison. The offender also felt that having made a formal apology would help him in his intentions to stay off drugs and settle down.