PCC meets Victims’ Commissioner

Baroness Newlove, the government’s Victims’ Commissioner, met the Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore at Police Headquarters in Martlesham to find out more about the impact of crime on people in Suffolk.

Helen Newlove came to prominence in 2007 after her husband, Garry, was murdered in an attack by a gang of teenagers outside his Warrington home. She became a member of the House of Lords in 2010.

Mr Passmore said it was vital that people who were the victim of crime were supported in an appropriate way for themselves and their own circumstances.

He accepted that different people reacted in different ways – but every victim needed to know that support was available.

He said: “There are often occasions when victims, for understandable reasons, feel they do not want to proceed with the legal action – but the fact is they are still victims.”

Baroness Newlove said she was hoping to support PCCs across the country as they drew up strategies and guidelines to about victims’ support before taking on an enhanced role for dealing with victims of crime in October 2014.

She said: “It is important that PCCs know we are here to support and offer advice to them – and to ensure that they have adequate policies in place to handle support for victims.”