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A referral to Restorative Gloucestershire for domestic abuse does not mean a restorative intervention will always be undertaken.

Referrals can be for: ex-partners, family members, and any others affected by the harm caused by domestic abuse.

We currently only take victim-led referrals, but may consider taking offender-led referrals in very exceptional circumstances, please contact the team.

Any restorative work will be governed by the individual needs of the victim and robust practitioner guided suitability and risk assessments, looking at such things as: level of victim empathy, realistic expectations, nature and recognition of coercive control, therapeutic work undertaken or still needed, motivation for behaviour change, levels of resilience and protective factors (not an exhaustive list).

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Any restorative communication between the parties will be facilitated by fully trained practitioners, and may take the form of a carefully managed letter exchange, or carefully managed passing of information / questions, or a carefully managed and well prepared in-person meeting.

Where referrals may be deemed unsuitable for facilitated communication between the parties, there can still be significant benefit in people being part of the decision-making themselves, as well as benefit from a restorative conversation with practitioners.

We accept post-sentence domestic abuse referrals. We are also able to consider out of court disposals where the following conditions are met:

  1. The offence is not one which is indictable only (unless approved by CPS).
  2. The offender has made a full admission and has not raised the possibility of a defence, for example in the case of assault self-defence.
  3. The offender has no links to any other relevant offending behaviour which indicates that an out of court disposal would be ineffective. (Local records should be checked for any previous out of court disposals.)
  4. The offender has not committed a serious offence. The starting point for assessing seriousness is to consider the likely penalty if the matter went to court. Where the circumstances of the offence indicate that an immediate custodial sentence or high level community order is the appropriate sentence then an out of court disposal should not be offered.
  5. The express wishes of the victim are met by dealing with the matter out of court after the victim has been provided with a full explanation of all options and their consequences, and has had their rights met under the Victim’s Code. However, the final decision will always rest with the police supervisor or CPS.

Please note - Non-criminal justice domestic abuse referrals can also be submitted to the Restorative Gloucestershire team, including for non-recent domestic abuse.