Victims of crime must remain at the heart of current conversations…

I’ll be honest. I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to write about this week.

So I did what I often do when in search of creative inspiration… I took to Google of course!

As I browsed the news sites, one headline immediately caught my eye… “Jury trials scrapped for crimes with sentences of less than three years”.

The story piqued my interest for two reasons.

First, in South Africa we do not have jury trials at all. The system was abolished many years ago because racial divisions made the prospect of a fair and impartial jury all but impossible.

And second, I found myself wondering what these reforms would mean for victims. How will they shape their experience of justice?

The Government maintains the change will help to reduce the backlog in the court system, whilst critics argue that it will make little difference and risks undermining a fundamental principle of British justice.

It is not for me to say which side has the stronger argument. But with most of the media coverage seemingly preoccupied with the political wrangling and point scoring around the reforms, I fear there’s a risk that we are forgetting about the people who should matter most in all of this: the victims of the crimes themselves.

The nature of the work we do at Trellidor means I am used to dealing with the aftermath of break-ins and theft. Arriving at a store to be greeted by smashed windows and a mangled mess of metal is just an ordinary day in the office, though of course there’s nothing ordinary about what it does to those who experience it.

The repercussions of this physical damage are significant, with retailers potentially losing thousands in lost trade. But it’s not only the broken glass or lost revenue that we need to consider. Whilst we can install anti-grind shutters within hours to help thwart future attacks, I know the emotional and psychological toll on those affected is far harder to repair… and it lingers long after the storefront is secured.

A little while ago I went to Nottingham to measure up at a store that had been broken into. It was the third attack the retailer had suffered in just four months.

As I worked, I spoke with a staff member who had only just returned after a three-week leave. She had been on shift during the most recent incident, when the attacker had systematically smashed through windows and doors before helping himself to the stock. The experience had understandably left her traumatised and she had needed time off to recover.

Sadly her story is one that I know is replicated every day in stores right across the country.

So I wasn’t in the least bit surprised to read that 47% of retail workers fear for their safety at work, whilst 39% are considering leaving their jobs or the industry altogether “due to the rise in violent and abusive incidents”.

And sometimes it is not just our store colleagues that are affected; members of the public can also find themselves caught up in the crossfire.

Recently I saw a video of thieves helping themselves to armfuls of products from the vape counter. The retail assistant exited the area whilst a group of school-aged children looked on in horror.

I wonder what those youngsters will take from moments like that. Will it leave a lasting scar? Is there a danger they’ll grow up thinking that theft is normal and that violence and intimidation are just an unpleasant but inevitable part of everyday life?

I certainly hope not.

So what’s my takeaway this week? If we can get more cases through the courts and more criminals behind bars, then surely that has to be a good thing, provided that we do not lose sight of those who matter most… the victims at the heart of it all.