'Face the Family' summit inspires Liverpool councillor to back campaign
Liverpool Council is expected to back a motion to publicly support the campaign
Last updated 25th Aug 2023
A Liverpool councillor says the 'Face the Family' summit inspired her to push for a law change 'as soon as possible'.
Families, experts and politicians from across the country came to Liverpool to discuss the campaign - which is calling for offenders to be made to appear in court when they're sentenced.
It's after Thomas Cashman refused to appear after being found guilty of murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in Dovecot last year.
Liverpool Council is expected to back Cllr Laura Robertson-Collins' motion later this week - which asks the leader and Chief Exec of the council to write to the Justice Minister to call for quicker action.
The motion states:
"Council notes that currently offenders can choose not to appear in court for sentencing, including hearing victim impact statements. This can add to families and victims’ suffering, as they are deprived the opportunity of presenting victim impact statements with offenders present. This was highlighted recently when Thomas Cashman refused to appear in court after being found guilty of the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel.
"Council further notes the “Face the Family” campaign, coordinated by Radio City, which is calling for a change to the law to insist offenders come into court for sentencing, or face possible additional penalty. Local MPs, our PCC, and others are asking for the government to introduce a new law to make offenders be present in court. This could be done by including it in the Victim and Witnesses Bill currently going through Parliament. This includes a current online petition.
"Council supports the call for this change in the law to make our criminal justice system more supportive of victims and states its support of the “Face the Family” campaign.
"Council therefore calls on the Leader and Chief Executive to write to the Justice Minister Alex Chalke MP setting out the terms of this motion, stating our support for the campaign and urge him to bring forward legislation as soon as possible."
Cllr Robertson-Collins said:
"It (the summit) was a really affecting event for me because I'd only just been appointed to the cabinet then so it was a new issue to me - but hearing from the families and hearing what the situation is - both myself and (Cllr) Harry (Doyle) we pledged to do something to try to help the campaign.
"At that panel we heard from some of those family members - including Cheryl Korbel - and when you hear the impact it has on families that they've written their impact statements and they're not able to go through the process of the convicted criminal hearing that, it sounded a really serious issue that we'd want to support.
"Apparently there's the Victim Bill that's going through (parliament) at the moment that it could be added onto so I think there are ways of doing it quickly."
Family and friends of Olivia Pratt-Korbel have been taking to the streets of Merseyside to canvas support for the Face the Family campaign.
The petition has been signed more than 10,000 times, which means the government will provide a response.
If it gets to 100,000 signatures, the petition will be considered for debate in Parliament.