Public want offenders to make amends

The results of an ICM telephone poll of 1,000 members of the public, conducted one month after the riots in England, show overwhelming popular support for constructive ways in which offenders can make amends to victims for the harm they have caused.

The poll reveals a huge majority of the public (94%) support opportunities for offenders who have committed offences such as theft or vandalism to do unpaid work in the community, as part of their sentence, to pay back for what they have done.

With a growing popular and political consensus that restorative justice should have an established place in the criminal justice system – both as a preventative measure and as a sentence of the courts – the briefing calls on the government to use the Bill to fulfil its promise to expand the opportunities for victims to benefit from restorative justice.