Victim Contact Service
The Victim Contact Service provides information to victims about key stages of the offender’s sentence, including when and on what basis a prisoner will be released. There are two schemes that are provided by the Probation Service to provide this service to victims; the Victim Contact Scheme and the Victim Notification Scheme.
Victim Contact Scheme (VCS)
If the offender is sentenced to 12 months or more in prison (or kept in hospital for treatment under the Mental Health Act 1983) you’ll get a letter from the National Probation Service (NPS) asking if you want to join the Victim Contact Scheme.
If the offence was a violent or sexual crime (and the offender was sentenced to 12 months of more) you’ll be automatically referred.
If you join, you’ll be given a Victim Liaison Officer who’ll let you know about any changes in the offender’s sentence, for example if they’re moved to an open prison, or how and when they’ll be released.
If you have concerns about what might happen when someone is released from prison they can discuss protection options, including preventing the offender from contacting you or your family, restraining orders or conditions of their licence of release if they have remaining time on their sentence.
If you’re receiving unwanted contact from an offender who is in prison, you can contact the Unwanted Prisoner Contact Service Helpline on 0300 060 6699, email victim.helpline@justice.gov.uk or make a ‘non-contact’ request on the gov.uk website.
You won’t be told where the offender is being held.
The Victim Contact Scheme can also speak for you at the offender’s Parole Board hearing. They can give your feedback on any ‘licence conditions’, the rules the offender must follow if and when they’re released on parole, for example not contacting you and your family.
If you decide not to join the VCS when you’re asked about it but later change your mind, or if you’ve not been asked but think you want to join, you can email the Victim Contact Scheme.
Victim Notification Scheme
This scheme provides similar updates about key stages of the offender’s sentence to the Victim Contact Scheme, however the Victim Notification Scheme is specifically for victims of offenders who have been convicted of a stalking or harassment offence and sentenced to imprisonment, including where the sentence is less than 12 months.
The following offences qualify for the VNS:
- Harassment (Sect 2 of Protection from Harassment Act 1997)
- Stalking (Sect 2 of Protection from Harassment Act 1997)
- Breach of a Stalking Order (Sect 8(1) and (2) of the Stalking Protection Act 2019)
- Breach of conditions of injunction against harassment (Sect 3A of Protection from Harassment Act 1997)
- Putting people in fear of violence (Sect 4 of Protection from Harassment Act 1997)
- Stalking involving serious alarm/distress (Sect 4A of Protection from Harassment Act 1997)
- Breach of Restraining Order issued on conviction (Sect 5 of Protection from Harassment Act 1997)
- Breach of Restraining Order issued on conviction (Sect 363 of Sentencing Act 2020)
- Breach of a Restraining Order issued on acquittal (Sect 5A of Protection from Harassment Act 1997)
- Racially or religiously aggravated harassment or stalking with fear of violence (Section 32 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998)
- Breach of Non-Molestation Order (Sect 42A of Family Law Act 1996)
- Controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship (Sect 76 of Serious Crime Act 2015)
The offences in bold are statutory offences under the Victim Contact Scheme, and therefore, where the sentence is 12 months or more, or a hospital order, victims must be offered the full Victim Contact Scheme. If the sentence is under 12 months, the VNS must be offered to the victim.
Criminal Injuries Compensation
If you’ve been injured by a violent crime, you can apply for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).
You will be eligible if the crime has been committed in the past two years, and if it was reported to the police as soon as possible.
It doesn’t matter whether the offender has been caught, but there are other rules which may affect how much compensation you receive. The CICA decide to make compensation awards by following a set of rules known as the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. The CICA scheme sets out the conditions which must be met before you will be considered eligible for compensation.
Please visit the below website to see if you are eligible for compensation:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/criminal-injuries-compensation-a-guide#eligibility