A woman who was seriously harassed and stalked by her former partner has said she only saw the case through because she was able to give evidence away from court.one of the recommendations of the Gillen Review
Witnesses go to a confidential location and eliminate the risk of bumping into their alleged abuser in the courthouse, sharing court facilities with them, or having to see a defendant's friends and family. “After we split it was messages, emails, WhatsApps, calls to my house in the middle of the night, I got followed. I was so paranoid. It was every single day, lies and a vicious cycle of violent messages."I was scared to sleep in my own bedroom. I ended up on sleeping tablets, but I got to the point that I was scared to even take them because what if I was out cold in a deep sleep, something could happen to me.
“I was brought round the court room ahead of time to see it. They let me go on the stand and hold a Bible and I just started to shake, I totally fell apart. “When I was brought to the REC it was just totally different. I could listen in to the case from there, my family could come, it felt safe. It just wasn’t anywhere near as intimidating.
Sir John Gillen is the man behind the idea and the hundreds of other recommendations made in the Gillen Review.In 21 cases where witnesses were scheduled to give evidence from the REC in Belfast, the defendant pleaded guilty without the complainant having to give evidence.“There’s no doubt there are a number of perpetrators who believe that the complainant will fold and won’t go through with it and as soon as they find out that’s not going to happen, they do the deal," he said.