A Prolific Burglar met one of his Victims whilst in Prison
Sharon’s home had been broken into by John. When we first met Sharon she was very concerned that John would return and break in again.
She had been out at the time of the offence but CCTV showed that John had been in her garden for a long time and that he had taken a good deal of time trying to smash through her patio doors. He had been disturbed by her elderly parents entering the house and he had run away. On the CCTV John’s face was shaded and he looked very gaunt, with only his eyes clearly visible. Shearon was horrified by the thought that John had been so close to her parents and what he might have done to them had he been inside the house by that point.
We discovered that over 30 years ago, as an 18 year old girl, Sharon had been held up in the Bank she worked at, by an armed man wearing a balaclava. He had demanded money then run out of the Bank. She had run out after him and chased him for a short distance before stopping. Some weeks later, he returned to the Bank, armed again. She was at the back of the banking area but he pointed to her and told her she had to get him the cash this time.
Obviously this was a traumatic experience for Sharon but over the years she thought she had dealt with it. She came to realise her fear of John returning was linked to the fact that the armed robber did return and he singled her out. Working with RJ became a learning and healing process for her. She knew John to be a local man who has been a prolific burglar all his life. She heard nothing but negativity about him but as she worked with us she began to have questions about his behaviours and actions.
We began shuttling between Sharon and John in Prison and each asked questions of the other and listened to the answers. John is 28 years old and has been in and out of prison since he was 15. He finds himself at a point where simply doing what he has always done is not enough. He wants to make changes. Through the shuttling process, he came to understand that a house can be a home and that people can feel safe inside. He had never experienced this himself and had not understood the extent of damage his actions could have. He burgled to take what he needed or to get warm and so on. He did not, until now, understand that this was such an invasion of someone’s home. Over the weeks, both parties decided they would like to meet each other. They both wrote a short speech to read to the other and whilst both were very nervous, they listened to each other and had meaningful, unscripted conversation at the Conference. Also present was John’s Probation Officer and the Prison RJ Lead.
We followed up with both parties in the following days and both were very glad to have taken part, both feeling they had moved on emotionally from the event but also from other things that had happened in their lives. Sharon’s whole family have seen a change in her and have all said they think it was a very positive thing for her to do.
