It is with sad hearts that we acknowledge the death of previous Board Chair Brendan Loughran, who passed away earlier this week surrounded by his loving family.

Brendan served as Chair of Victim Support NI from 2015-2017 having previously served four years as Vice-chair and two concurrently as Chair of Finance, Audit, Risk and Remuneration.  He was an unerring champion of victims’ rights and was at the helm as the Victim Charter was introduced.  He served as Treasurer to the Board of Victim Support Europe following his retirement from our Board, and was involved in other charitable and volunteering work.  Brendan brought a wealth of experience and a steady hand to our organisation, with 34 years of knowledge and skills working in the Children’s Services sector in Northern Ireland and England before retiring in 2011 to set up a freelance consultancy business.  His leadership and guidance was appreciated by everyone who worked with him, and he is fondly remembered for his affable nature, kindness, professionalism and hearty laugh.

Our sincerest condolences to his loved ones at this sad time.

Victim Support NI is here to support victims of all crime types in Northern Ireland, regardless of your age, gender, ability, sexuality or race.

We condemn the recent unrest in Ballymena and other areas of Antrim.  These riots are creating a culture of fear in the town which will take time to recover from.  Trauma has long-lasting and far-reaching effects.  While the issues behind this unrest are complex and will take time to unpick and find solutions, we echo the pleas of the victim’s family who have called for an end to the violence.  Violence is never the right answer, whether it be committed against women and girls or people of different races.

To anyone affected by what’s happening, whether you are affected directly or indirectly, we offer our general and specialist support services.

Victim Support NI’s services are confidential and free.  You do not have to have reported your crime to police in order to avail of our support.  If you have been affected by the situation in Ballymena, please reach out to us to receive general support, advice and information about recovery from crime.  We also have specialist services who can help victims of sexual violence and manage the Hate Crime Advocacy Service, providing specialist support to victims of hate crime.  We can advise on and offer support with criminal injury compensation claims.  To reiterate, our support services are free and confidential and available to victims of all crime types, whether or not the crime has been reported to police.

Contact us:

Belfast: 028 9024 3133 or Foyle 028 7137 0086

Email:  belfast@victimsupportni.org.uk or foyle@victimsupportni.org.uk

To contact the Hate Crime Advocacy Service directly please contact hate.crime@hcasni.org.uk

Adult victims of sexual violence can contact our Sexual Offences Legal Advisers (SOLA) service via the contact numbers above or on email:  sola@victimsupportni.org.uk

Young victims of sexual violence can contact our Child Sexual Offences Legal Adviser (CSOLA) service using the contact numbers or email:  csola@victimsupportni.org.uk

If you wish to report a crime you can do so using the PSNI 101 number, or if you are in immediate danger always use the emergency response line 999.

We have published the results of some surveys we have conducted with our clients at different stages of their criminal justice journeys.  Our Community Support Service offers support to victims of crime shortly after the crime has occurred.  They offer practical advice, information and emotional support to help victims recover from the impact of crime.  Our emotional support survey results reflect the changing ways our clients prefer to receive this support.  Support appointments via telephone or video call are felt by many clients to be just as effective as face-to-face support and are shown to be a more convenient way to receive support.

The Witness Survey results show how our clients benefit from our support at court, and the results of our Remote Evidence Centre survey clearly show that this new resource is making vulnerable witnesses feel safer and more able to deliver their evidence.

We are delighted that we have such high approval ratings from most of our service users, and will use the negative feedback responses to improve our services and make them more responsive to victim needs.

You can read the results of our surveys at our publications page here:

If you are having difficulties getting through on our phonelines, please let the call ring.  If none of our agents are able to take the call, the answerphone service will kick in and you can leave your name and number.  Someone will call you back as soon as they are able.  Our lines are very busy at the moment and we appreciate your understanding at this time.

If you’d prefer to contact us via email, you can do so at info@victimsupportni.org.uk

The GAA Catfish Scandal has dominated the headlines this week in Ireland.  Catfishing is the act of pretending to be someone else online, with the intent of tricking another person. While catfishing itself is not illegal, it can become a criminal activity if it involves fraudulent financial activity, privacy violations, stalking, harassment, abusive behaviours or sextortion.  We can offer support to victims of criminal catfishing living in Northern Ireland.  You can access this support whether or not you reported the crime to police.  Catfishing and romance scams of this nature can leave victims feeling too embarrassed or ashamed to ask for support.

We would encourage victims of romance scams, online abuse or sextortion to contact us to access support.  This can take the form of emotional support, practical advice and information.  We support adult victims as well as children and young people, and our support is available to anyone living in Northern Ireland.  In addition to our general support services, we also have specialist advocacy services which support victims of hate crime and sexual offences.  Should you report a crime and it later goes to court, we can provide support at court through our Witness Service if you need to attend to give evidence.

Belfast

Belfast office number: 02890 243133
Belfast office email: belfast@victimsupportni.org.uk

Foyle

Foyle office number: 02871 370086
Foyle office Email: foyle@victimsupportni.org.uk

Victim Support NI is extremely concerned by the withdrawal of services by members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) from legal-aided criminal cases due to be held in the Crown Courts in NI between the 6^th – 31^st January.  We believe this withdrawal of services will have an acute impact on victims and witnesses.

While we understand that the CBA have not taken this decision lightly,  we must emphasise that this withdrawal of service will have far-reaching and long-lasting consequences on a system already plagued by delays and the longest wait times in the UK for cases to reach court.  Victims who have waited for many months, sometimes multiple years, for their case to be heard will now face further waits to have their day in court .  The significant trauma this action may cause victims and witnesses cannot be underestimated.   Victims have told us they feel like their life is ‘on hold’ while they wait; that they cannot move on with their lives until a decision is made in their case.  We have seen victims drop out of the criminal justice system altogether as they simply can’t take waiting any longer.  They can experience anxiety and depression which may be further exacerbated by this action and the delays in their cases.

We urge all parties to consider how this action directly impacts victims and witnesses and to take all necessary steps to bring this dispute to a timely resolution.

Victim Support NI support services are available to anyone affected by this withdrawal of service.  Please contact us on 028 9024 3133 or 028 7137 0086 to speak to a member of our support team.

Members of the Criminal Bar Association have announced their intention to withdraw their services from criminal trials due to be held in the Crown Court from 6^th January to 31^st January 2025.

This means that defence barristers will not present cases in the Crown Court. This is likely to cause significant disruption to criminal cases.

If you are a victim or a witness in a case that is unable to proceed due to the strike action, you will be contacted by the Victim and Witness Care Unit.  The Public Prosecution Service and NI Courts & Tribunals Service are working with criminal justice partners to re-schedule trials as quickly as possible, with priority given to the most vulnerable victims and witnesses.

We understand that this disruption will be disappointing and distressing for some victims and witnesses.  Our staff and volunteers are available to offer emotional and practical support to anyone affected by this issue and can be contacted through this website or on the following numbers:

Belfast hub – 028 9024 3133
Foyle hub – 028 7137 0086

Please note that the Victim Support NI offices will be closed 25th Dec – 1st Jan inc.  We reopen at 9am on Thursday 2nd Jan, 2025. During this closure, there are a number of support helplines or organisations that can be accessed 24/7 should you need support:
Domestic & Sexual Abuse Helpline:      0808 802 1414
Lifeline:                                                            0808 808 8000
The Samaritans                                             116 123
The Rowan SARC                                          0800 389 4424
Police Service NI                                          101, or 999 in an emergency

Sexual Offences Legal Advisers (SOLAs) working within Victim Support NI have issued a plea to anyone affected by recent high-profile news reports of convictions for child abuse.   We know that these accounts can be triggering for other victims of abuse, some of whom will never have told anyone about the abuse they endured.

Victim Support NI would urge anyone affected by these recent stories, or other cases of historical abuse, to seek free and confidential support from a SOLA (Sexual Offences Legal Adviser.)  These are specialist solicitors based in Victim Support NI who provide free legal advice and advocacy support to anyone affected by serious sexual crime.  Victims do not have to have reported their case to police to avail of the help of a SOLA, although if they wish to tell police about what happened to them, the SOLA can support them to do so.

To make an appointment, please contact Victim Support NI on 028 9024 3133 or 028 7137 0086 during office hours, or email sola@victimsupportni.org.uk

Our support services are free and confidential.  Victims of childhood abuse are not to blame for what happened to them.

This weekend, there was violence on our streets following an anti-immigration protest held in Belfast city centre.  Many businesses which were perceived to be owned by people from ethnic minority communities were attacked and damaged.  We would encourage any victims who feel they have been subjected to a hate crime due to this civil disorder to contact the Hate Crime Advocacy Service housed within Victim Support NI.  They can be contacted by phone during office hours on 028 9024 3133 or via email at hate.crime@hcasni.com

Those wishing to find out more about criminal damage compensation are encouraged to contact the CAJ (Committee on the Administration of Justice) on info@caj.org.uk.  Their staff can offer advice on the application process and help with completing applications for criminal damage compensation for eligible applicants.