Make a victim personal statement to the Parole Board
Write your victim personal statement
Your victim personal statement is your opportunity to explain how a crime has affected you and your family - for example, physically, emotionally, financially or in any other way.
You can update the statement that you wrote for the prisoner’s trial or write a new one.
Your statement should take less than 10 minutes to read out.
You can usually choose how your statement is presented at an oral hearing.
You must always submit a written version of your statement.
What to include
You need to include how the:
- crime affected you at the time
- crime has affected you since it happened
- prisoner’s release or move to an open prison would affect you, your family, friends or community
Do not include:
- whether you think the prisoner should be released
- long descriptions of the original crime
- any threats or critical comments to or about the prisoner or the Parole Board
Tell your Victim Liaison Officer if you think you have other information that will help the Parole Board make a decision.
Young victims and children
If you do not want to or cannot make a written victim personal statement, you can tell your Victim Liaison Officer about how:
- you and your family were hurt
- the crime makes you feel now
- you think you would feel if the prisoner was released
Your Victim Liaison Officer will write this down and give it to the Parole Board.
Your parent or guardian can also make a statement if they want to.
The prisoner’s access to your victim personal statement
Prisoners usually have full access to all victim personal statements presented at their hearing.
Speak to your Victim Liaison Officer if you do not want the prisoner to have access to your statement.
You’ll need to make a good case that it will:
- put you or your family at risk
- have a negative effect on you in some other way
Statements are only withheld from prisoners under exceptional circumstances.