Third National Commission of Enquiry

Posted April 11, 2011

Last Tuesday we took our ‘Community or Custody’ panel of experts to visit the Leicester Drugs and Alcohol community sentence which is run by the Criminal Justice Drugs Team. It is an excellent scheme providing a whole range of services to both men and women who have so far slipped through the criminal justice net. As is so often the case, it is the offenders and staff on the ground who really tell the story. Lives have been turned round, offending behaviour reduced and, critically, so many have gained a real insight into what their crimes have meant to their victims. We had a fantastic and engaging audience. For more information on the Criminal Justice Drugs Team please visit their website and, visit the Community or Custody website to read the evidence heard by the panel.

Roma Hooper

Roma has worked in and around the criminal justice system since 1992, when she was asked to help set up Britain’s first prison radio station at Feltham Young Offenders’ Institution. She has a Masters in Criminal Justice Policy from the London School of Economics, is Chair of the Griffins Society (supporting women in the criminal justice system), Vice-Chair of the Foundation Training Company (which runs a series of prison and community based resettlement and development programmes) as well as Chair and Founder of the Prison Radio Association. In 2010 she launched Make Justice Work, a campaign to highlight the cost of short-term prison sentences and to improve public confidence in community sentences.