Update of trial
Your allocated Victim or Witness advocate will keep you updated with the outcome of the trial. If the suspect is found guilty a date for sentencing will be set. If you have been the victim of the crime, we may ask you if you wish to record a Victim Personal Statement.
Experiencing crime can affect you in different ways, be it emotionally, physically, mentally or financially.
A Victim Personal Statement (VPS) gives you the opportunity to explain in your own words the impact that the crime has had on you and your family. It will be taken into account by all criminal justice agencies involved in the case and it can play a key part in sentencing.
All victims who report a crime are entitled to make a Victim Personal Statement at the same time as giving a witness statement to the Police. The VPS allows you to say how you and your family have been affected by the crime. This is different to a witness statement, which describes what happened at the time of the crime. Giving a VPS is optional and it will include your routine personal details such as name, date of birth and address.
Once you have completed a VPS you cannot change it, but you can give a further VPS at any time before sentencing. This will add to or clarify your initial VPS, and gives you the chance to describe any further impact the crime has had.
If you are a victim of a serious crime (including bereaved close relatives), persistently targeted, or vulnerable or intimidated, you are entitled to make a VPS to the Police at any time before sentencing, whether or not you make a witness statement about what happened.
The VPS will form part of the prosecution case but will only be considered by the court once the offender has been found guilty of the offence.
