Justice service focuses on empathy and unity

A cathedral service for people working in the justice system has heard a call for unity and empathy.

The annual Suffolk Justice Service was held at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds on Sunday.

Poet and broadcaster Lemn Sissay OBE was the guest speaker, reflecting on his childhood in care.

He said: "I want us to view that child not as a potential problem waiting to happen, but as a potential solution waiting to happen, showing us in society at our best.

The service marked the end of the current year-long term for the high sheriff of Suffolk, Gulshan Kayembe, who has used the role to highlight the need for all services, charities and community groups to work together.

In her programme address she said: "As our prisons heave and creak because of overcrowding, prison, police and probation officers labour to provide sufficient support and our courts juggle the backlog of cases, we need to ask if we are doing enough to prevent people , especially children and young people, from becoming entangled in the criminal justice system.

"May this gathering inspire unity, community, courage and a renewed dedication to the task of prevention, reconciliation and rehabilitation."

Invited guests included community organisations and faith groups from across Suffolk.

Representatives from the Hindu, Jewish, Sikh and Muslim faiths shared reflections on the values of kindness, forgiveness, community and unity.

A Sikh hymn opened the service, and later on young people from the Level Two youth project in Felixstowe performed songs.

Five candles were lit by a young person, a prisoner, a judge, the lord lieutenant of Suffolk and one of the faith representatives.

The high sheriff also interviewed Malcom Hogarth, chairman of magistrates, and former probation officer and crime writer Ruth Dugdall, based in Felixstowe.

Speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk afterwards, Dugdall said: "I think it's essential for our society to be safe.

"There's far too much emphasis on the length of prison sentence that people get, but they're really being warehoused, they're not being worked with.

"We can't have rehabilitation without probation, so we need to prioritise that role and understand more about what it involves."

The Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, the Right Reverent Dr Joanne Grenfell, said: "We might hear a lot about punishment, about prison, about all sorts of strong feelings understandably from the victims of crime, but if we never stop to ask the why question and never really hear people, then there isn't hope for justice and peace.

"We've all got to contribute to that, making sure that we really see people and don't just see a criminal but we see a person and really ask the why."

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