New charity to help witnesses

A new charity, Witness Confident has launched today with the aim of setting out guidance for people who witness street crime and help them through the Criminal Justice System.

Last year there were 850,000 incidents of people being attacked by complete strangers. Eight out of ten times the assault went unreported and last years figures showed an 11 per cent rise in street attacks.

Director of Witness Confident Guy Dehn said: “Over the past year it has become increasingly clear that the frustration of the public is matched by the frustration of police officers, lawyers and judges about this walk-on-by culture.”

“If we are going to tackle the root of this problem, we need to build up public confidence and stop stoking up people’s fears. “The fact is these days far too many people assume that if they take the trouble to get involved, it will just cause them grief”.

For more information, visit: www.witnessconfident.org