CASE STUDY: ROBBERY
Background to Case: On Saturday 24th May 2014 staff from the local Petrol Station, reported that a male had entered the location, attacked a member of staff and had taken money from the till.
On arrival the Police found an employee distressed and bleeding from an injury to the point of her nose. Also present during the incident was another employee. She told of hearing someone say ‘HES GOT A KNIFE’ and on looking towards the main counter she saw a male, wearing a hoody with the hood up, reaching over the till and stealing money. She informed that a male had approached the counter, where she was stood serving customers, and placed a cookie valued at 45p on the counter before handing her a 50p piece as payment. Her colleague opened the cash drawer of the till in an effort to retrieve the 5p change. Whilst doing so she became aware of something on her face, which she soon realised was a knife. The victim did not see the offender’s face and would not recognise him again. The male continued to point the knife towards her colleague whilst leaning over the counter and taking bank notes from the till. He fled the scene on foot.
The manager later confirmed that either £515 or £520 in cash had been stolen from the till during the robbery.
Victim/s: The victim who was present at the time of the offence and witnessed the robbery was an employee at the store and wished to take part in Restorative Justice.
The victim stated that it was a frightening experience at the time and stated even more so for her colleague as she was the one who had the knife pointed at her face.
The victim stated that the incident left her feeling angry and vulnerable.
She also stated that she had to go through an ordeal of standing and giving evidence at the trial which was delayed for some time as the offender failed to attend which she stated made her feel angry and bitter towards him.
The victim stated that she would like an explanation from the offender as to why he did what he did.
She stated that the incident has left her feeling vulnerable whilst at work and makes her wary of people entering the store. She also stated that she wanted to let the offender know how the robbery had left both herself and her colleague feeling.
Offender/s: The offender is a 45 year old male who has a long history of offending, in particular committing robberies.
At the time of the offence he stated that he felt compelled to help his friend find some money to pay a debt.
He continued with the robbery he stated as he was already involved by this point and felt that he had to continue he also stated that his adrenalin by this point was running through him.
The offender presented as remorseful and showed victim empathy throughout the initial assessment. He stated that he takes full responsibility for his actions and that he deserves to be in prison for the ten years he was sentenced to.
The offender was grateful for the opportunity to become involved in the restorative process and stated that he would do anything he could to repair some of the harm to the victims.
The Process: The victim stated that she would like to have a direct meeting with the offender as she felt that this would be the best process to be able to ‘get her point across’. The offender agreed to the direct meeting and was pleased to be able to help repair some of the harm he had caused by his actions.
Both parties were well prepared for the meeting and this was then arranged to take place at HMP Doncaster.
The RJ Conference:
Both the victim and offender were nervous and this was apparent throughout the meeting, the offender looked especially nervous and was visibly shaking at times. The victim asked the offender her questions, the main one being why he committed the offence, which he answered. Both the victim and offender were respectful to each other throughout the meeting and listened to what each other had to say.
The victim told the offender that he could have a better future if that was what he wanted and wished him all the best.
After the meeting both parties were very pleased with what had happened and felt that the meeting had been beneficial. However, the offender felt that, on reflection, he hadn’t said everything that he wanted to do so has written a further letter to the victim.
