Community Justice

For over ten years, Theatr Clwyd has been working with young people, in schools and colleges, looking at the consequences of crime and criminal behaviour among young people. One of these performance-based and interactive workshops is Justice in a Day which I have written about previously. Recently, the theatre has developed another workshop with the support of the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales, Safer Streets Fund and the Youth Justice team. This workshop was designed to be performed in the community for young people aged 10-17 to attend along with their parent/carer/guardian. 

The workshop follows the story of a young man, who steadily becomes involved with the wrong crowd and finds himself on the wrong side of the law.

It starts with the facilitators and professional actors explaining the background of the justice series - Connor’s Time, Consent etc. They explained how they have designed interactive workshops and the purpose is to enjoy it and learn. They set the scene, February 18th 2022, on a football field two young people have a panicked conversation. A young man states, “I hit him!”, “the CCTV wasn’t working”. A young woman states, “we go down the alley and avoid the CCTV, if asked we know nothing”. 

The scene changes, a month before on a rugby field. A man called Mark is sitting on a bench watching a rugby match, he is a volunteer coach. A mother and her son, who are new to the area sit by him - Jenny and Darren. They get talking as they both know the referee for the match - Jenny’s new boyfriend and Mark’s long time friend. Darren finds the conversation embarrassing as he explains he is into street art and is a music producer. The conversation continues and the audience finds out that Jenny and Darren are originally from Rhyl and she has split from her husband and she now works in the local pub. Mark owns the local shop and cares for his mum who lives in the flat above and is living with dementia. It also comes up in conversation that the CCTV is faulty. We also find out that Darren is about to turn 16 and it’s his GCSE year.

The next scene is Darren getting in trouble in Maths class with a local girl, Caitlin. Later, Darren is wandering through a local park and bumps into Caitlin. They strike up a conversation and a friendship is made. She discovers it’s Darren’s birthday soon and starts organising stuff for his birthday. 

The audience is then divided into to groups to profile Darren; describe him, his personality etc. Here are some of the words the audience described him as: bored, naive, insecure, lonely, isolated, smart, shy, friendly, immature, impressionable. The facilitators then stated that no one had said criminal.

Next scene: 19th February, police raid Darren and Jenny’s house and arrest him. They search the house. 

The custody suite and procedure is explained. Darren is arrested on suspicion of assault. The facilitators explains how Darren needs an appropriate adult to be interviewed. They describe the holding cell and demonstrate how the mattress and blanket can’t be ripped or tied. The conditions are described in detail, including how Darren will be woken up every 30 minutes. 

The next scene, the police have collected enough evidence to interview. They use people in the audience for a solicitor and investigator. We find out what events led up to the arrest. Darren and Caitlin didn’t go to school that day. Darren bought spray paint, using his birthday money, and sprayed the community centre with graffiti. They hung out with others and had a fire. He then went to Mark’s shop to steal alcohol. Mark had caught him so he swung the bottle and smacked Mark in the head. He was knocked out in a pool of blood on the floor when Darren and Caitlin ran out of the shop. 

In groups, the audience was asked to list all the crimes committed by Darren. The groups came up with graffiti, attempted robbery, underage drinking, lying to the police, assault, arson, anti-social behaviour, truancy, criminal damage and perverting the course of justice. 

The facilitators then explained the CPS process. Next they enlist the audience as the magistrates, legal advisor, solicitor, prosecution and youth services. It was explained how no public are allowed in Youth Court and anonymity is given for under 18s. Journalists are allowed in the court to watch the proceedings. The workshop is based on a true case. We were told that the real “Darren” pleaded guilty.

In groups, we were asked to come up with questions to ask Darren, Jenny and Mark. The actors answered all the questions. It was revealed that Mark had been hospitalised for several weeks and his mother had to be put into permanent care. She no longer recognised Mark. 

The audience were then given the opportunity to decide Darren’s sentence. We were given 2 options: a referral order, maximum of 12 months, serve time in community with the youth service team and wear a tag or detention in a young offenders prison with a maximum of 2 years. We were given 2 options as he had no previous. The majority of the room decided a referral was the best sentence. 

The next scene: 2 months in the future and Darren is at home serving his referral order. He is struggling with his mental health and dealing with remorse. He is trying to write a letter to Mark. 

Next scene: couple of weeks later, Jenny is trying to re-claim her life and attends the rugby. Mark is there and they talk. It was awkward at first but Mark reveals he has had the letter. He asks if he wrote it on his own and whether he meant the contents. The facilitators then explained restorative justice and how victims now have the opportunity to sit down in a room and talk to the perpetrator of the crime against them. 

The last scene: Mark and Darren are in a room together. It is extremely emotive and some members of the audience cried during the scene. They talk it out and Mark forgives him for his assault. 

Throughout the workshop, the audience gained insight into how the criminal justice system works in relation to young people, examined the choices and indicators around young offenders and explored the wider impact of anti-social behaviour not only on the individual but on the families and the wider community.