Kate Wallace, chief executive of Victim Support Scotland on what needs to change for victims

“I want a robust system that keeps me and my family safe, and I don’t want the same thing to happen to anyone else.” That is what we hear, time and time again from victims of crime.

Their desire is for systemic change to ensure that nobody else will experience what they have endured.

Dealing effectively with offenders is a hugely complex issue for the criminal justice system and beyond. There is a fine balance between prison as a form of justice while also providing rehabilitation, which makes it less likely that inmates will reoffend.

Whilst not every offender will require a custodial sentence, for offenders who are shown to pose a risk of harm to others, prisons also play a key role in keeping victims and the wider public safe.

Prisons that are effective in these areas are therefore crucial to reducing the number of people impacted by crime and breaking the vicious cycle of reoffending.

The many questions involved in sending someone to prison - who goes to prison, for how long, who gets out and when - all have an impact on the people affected by the crimes these prisoners have committed.

Is Scotland's prison system failing the victims of crime? (Image: PA) Their 'voices', expert due to their lived experiences, must be heard and their experiences used to find solutions for the current issues we are facing. All too often, the voices of people impacted by crime are drowned out amidst the complex internal workings of Scotland’s criminal justice system. The people who are most affected by the outcomes of this system often have the least influence – leaving them feeling powerless, unheard, and forgotten.

There is much about the criminal justice system that is a minefield for victims and sentencing is just one aspect of the confusion. Following new legislation passed earlier........

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