The power of restorative justice
Nick Dawson’s twin brother Simon was brutally murdered nearly 30 years ago. He was first robbed, then beaten and finally thrown into a lake by two men who were 17 at the time, after he had asked them for directions on a night out.
In his book, Nick tells us about his brother, his relationship to him, and the life-shattering consequences his murder had on everyone – from himself to his parents to the wide circle of family and friends.
He also explains how he found restorative justice and what profound impact it had on him and his relationship with one of the killers Craig.
It is of course a difficult read given the subject matter, but it is also full of light and positivity.
It is also full of insight.
Nick is a wonderful, often poetic, narrator who tells a sad but powerful story.
What give it so much impact are the honesty, openness and vulnerability with which he lets the reader into his life.
This cannot have been easy.
Since hearing about restorative justice and reading about various cases, I believe that it should be one of the core pillars of a reformed, better criminal justice system.
Nick confirms this in his account.
He makes it clear that in our current judicial process, victims have no voice.
As a consequence, the closure that is anticipated once the perpetrators have been sentenced and sent to prison never materialises.
The anger, hatred and pain stay.
Nick explains to us that what he mostly needed from the restorative justice process were two things.
Firstly, to understand as much as possible about what happened that horrible night, down to every little detail.
“Some people might find it truly awful to want so much detail”, he admits, but “when someone has stolen something so precious, it becomes a necessity”. He needed the answer to all the questions that had “gnawed at him, clawed at his skin.”
Secondly, he wanted the perpetrator Craig to fully comprehend the extent of the damage, the “utter devastation” he had caused.
He also needed him see his brother Simon as a person, that Simon would be “alive in the room” with them when they met.
After much preparation, Nick visits Craig in prison and they sit down for over three hours to talk about what happened in every detail.
Nick makes it clear to Craig that “sorry” could never cut it and that he couldn’t offer forgiveness.
Craig understands this and explains that he would never expect or want forgiveness. To Nick it also seems that he understands the gravity of his actions and that he is truly remorseful.
As small a gesture as it might seem, when Craig apologises to Nick in person –genuinely and remorsefully – it means a lot to him.
What Nick finds in the conversation are the some of the answers to the questions that have been torturing him for years. They were questions that traditional criminal justice was inadequate in answering and that needed answers.
It is clear from his account that the meeting with Craig marks a significant turning point in his grieving process.
Whilst it does not provide closure, it does mean that for the first time Nick can find some sort of acceptance.
He also now sees Craig in a completely different light, for the first time as a human being, rather than some sort of animal or non-human monster.
Whilst we all make personal choices and there is always personal responsibility, our upbringing plays a major factor in where we end up and some people never had a chance in the first place. If you learn nothing but violence early on, that’s all you know.
Nick concedes that had Craig grown up in a loving, supportive family and received good education, it’s very unlikely he would have done what he did.
“It’s never as easy as one person being good and the other being bad”.
In the conclusion of the book, Nick tells us that one of the most important things that he wants to come out of the book is that it would help others, whether victims or offenders.
He wants to share his knowledge so that it has a positive impact on others, on society and so that Simon’s death wasn’t in vain.
This of course has special relevance to me. I am an offender who has caused tremendous harm and suffering, just like Simon’s killers.
And even though the circumstances were very different, much of the resulting pain was just the same. It is a pain and damage that can never be taken back, an injustice that can never be restored.