Putting Victims at the Heart of Justice

This week, I spoke in Parliament at the Second Reading of the Sentencing Bill.

As a former police officer, I’ve seen for myself how our justice system too often fails communities—and, most critically, victims. Sadly, too many people across the Forest of Dean know what it feels like to live with the consequences of crime: Repeat offending, victims living in fear, and communities left vulnerable.

That’s why this Bill matters, and why I support the Government in delivering the most significant reforms to sentencing in over a generation.

By suspending short sentences in favour of unpaid work and community-based punishment, we can:

• Make offenders visibly repay the public here in our towns and villages for the harm they’ve caused.

• Restore confidence for victims that justice is being done.

• Break the cycle of reoffending that short sentences fuel.

We are building more prison places, reforming sentencing, and putting victims—finally—at the heart of justice.

Please watch my full contribution in the video above.