Immediate Justice Case Study

Last year, Sussex were chosen as a trailblazer for the new ‘Immediate Justice’ pilot which sees offenders paying back to the community through unpaid work and repairing damage and harm they may have caused.

The trial continues to go from strength to strength with over 132 cases having been referred through the Sussex team, helping to prevent further criminality and deter first-time offenders.

The Brighton Community Workshop Project (BCWP), a valued partner of the Immediate Justice pilot, offer various activities and creative hubs as well as a 'Tool Library', where residents can borrow tools to use at home. Recently they facilitated reparative activity with an offender who had been referred to Immediate Justice.

Working with BCWP as part of their reparative activity, the individual cleaned and restored tools ready for the public to use. The activity took place whilst having an in-depth conversation with an IJ Delivery Officer, reflecting on their actions and speaking about why they committed the crime and how they could respond differently next time. 

Speaking about the session, IJ Delivery Officer, Donna highlights: “‘O’ entered the workshop visibly guarded and rather solemn. Once adjusted to the environment we got talking, they enthusiastically went on with the job. During the reparation I took the opportunity to reflect on Immediate Justice; its purpose and the benefits of engaging – ‘O’ shared their own comments and their interest in the scheme. Restorative and simple questions such as ‘What happened?' and ‘What were you thinking at the time?’ were useful in helping ‘O’ to reflect on their actions and share a little about what else was pressing for them at the time the crime was committed. Further support in the form of a follow up call and appropriate signposting was offered before the session was completed.”

Garry Meyer who works at BCWP and led the reparative activity reflects on the session said: “We were pleased to be involved in supporting the Immediate Justice pilot. We are committed to supporting any initiatives that can help reduce crime and help change behaviours to improve our community.

“Working with the Immediate Justice Taskforce has been very fulfilling, and we hope to provide future sessions that were as successful as the inaugural one held at the workshop.”

If you want to find out more about Immediate Justice and how it works currently in Sussex, you can do so on our website.