Roehampton Community Justice Court

The first Community Justice Court anywhere in London has just opened its doors in Roehampton.

This is a major new way of dealing with what are classified as relatively minor crimes, but which cause disproportionate hurt, victimisation and upset to those affected.

For the first time, local criminals will be held to account locally for their crimes; with input from the community. Experience elsewhere in the country where this method of punishment has been trialled has shown that reoffending rates fall dramatically, not least because of the added responsibility of being judged locally and being held accountable by the community they've harmed.

Cases which will be dealt with by the court include harassment, theft, possession of drugs, breaches of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, breaches of community orders, bail or drug treatment orders, failures to appear, fraud, Road Traffic Act offences, assault, criminal damage, assaults and domestic violence. The Community Justice court can bring back offenders to the court to review the progress of their community sentences, a power which they, uniquely, have.

I fully back pinoneering new initiative by the Labour Government like this - which on top of extra Police and the 44 Community Support Officers in Putney introduced by Labour since 2001 - really should tackle so-called low level crime in Roehampton. This scheme is also important in helping residents to sleep securely at night, because although crime in Roehampton is higher than the constituency as a whole, this community is nothing like the crime den some local politicians (who really should know better) seek to paint it as.

You can learn more about the Community Justice system here.