Grieving mum’s prison visit inspired by daughter’s kindness
Nov 02, 2009
from Jon Livesey's article in the Lancashire Telegraph:
A heartbroken mother drew on the memory of her daughter killed in a car crash to find the courage to meet the burglar who broke into her home.
Margaret Foxley told the burglar the laptop he stole contained treasured photographs of her daughter Jessica, who died in a car crash with two friends in Colne six months later.
It was the first time in Lancashire that a victim had gone into prison to meet the person who committed a crime against them as part of the ‘restorative justice’ programme.
....When the burglar was arrested by police last year he asked officers to pass on his personal apology to the family whose home he targeted.
It was Jessica’s reaction that led to their involvement in the restorative justice scheme, aimed at steering criminals away from re-offending.
Mrs Foxley said: “When we told Jessica she said ‘bless him, what him a shame’ because she always saw the good in everybody.
“She knew there could have been a deeper reason and said he might have done it so he could feed his children. That’s what she was like.
“That’s mainly why I agreed to meet him. Throughout the whole interview I felt she was saying ‘Come on mum. You can do it.’ I felt very close to her at that moment so it was not at all upsetting from that point of view.”
The family’s most recent photographs of Jessica, who was bidding to become a professional singer, were on the laptop and are now lost as the burglar sold the item.
....“I think it became a lot more emotional when I talked about my feelings. I expressed to him how I felt that night. I told him I felt like it was no longer my house and that I was scared to come home in the evening and I got him to explain why he chose my house.
“He said it was nothing personal, but I told him there were a lot of personal memories and photographs on the laptop. I really pushed him to tell me how much he got for it, which was something very small, and I became quite angry at that point.
