Restorative Justice Cuts Re-Offending In Durham

19 November 2014, 06:00 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

An ex criminal from County Durham's been telling Capital how meeting a victim of his crime turned his life around.

David Clark from Langley Moor used to commit around 300 crimes a year.

He burgled houses from a young age to fund his drug habit.

During his latest spell in prison he was offered Restorative Justice, where he came face to face with his victim.

He's been telling Capital how it changed his life.

Durham Police tell us the restorative justice approach has helped cut re-offending by 14%.

On Restorative Justice Week, a campaign's being launched to encourage people to think about whether they would meet somebody who committed a crime against them by asking the question "What would you do?".

Restorative Justice is completely voluntary and only takes place if both the victim and offender consent and have been assessed as suitable by a trained RJ facilitator.