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Justice doesn't come cheap. The Home Office's £36m "No Witness, No Justice" programme, which aims to re-establish victims and witnesses at the heart of the criminal justice system, is testament to that.

And, unfortunately, sometimes justice doesn't come at all. You might ha ve a witness but if they have learning difficulties they might be considered "unreliable".

But perhaps no longer: the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 and government guidance such as Achieving Best Evidence have recognised that, with proper support, vulnerable people can make good witnesses.

This proper support - so-called "special measures" - ranges from recording video statements to having the assistance of an intermediary. This is someone who can help you, should you need it, give your statement if you have learning difficulties, physical disabilities or mental health needs.

About five years ago the Metropolitan Police, which with more than 30,000 police officers in service is London's largest employer, began looking at how it could bring in the changes. A five-day foundation training course in special measures was put together by detective constables Steve Tilney and John Smith of the vulnerable and intimidated witness team.

They soon realised the need for a more advanced version of the course. "We were not training officers at all to deal with traumatised children or people with complex needs," says Tilney. "It's obvious that people with learning difficulties, for example, will more than likely need a little more help making their statements - so officers will need a little more training to do that well. They can all do interviews. But can they do them well? That's the difference."

Smith continues: "Too often people with learning difficulties are put in the 'too difficult' category by officers; whereas they are no different from you and me in that they are victims who have had something happen to them, or are witnesses who have seen something. From that point on we should still try to get to the same outcome - the statement. We might have to do different things to get that statement but we should still get it."

The advanced course was set up with Voice UK, the national charity for people with learning disabilities who have experienced crime or abuse. The charity co-provides some training, using staff who have learning difficulties. "We needed that external expertise," says Tilney. "On the foundation course we just had police officers interviewing police officers. But we needed to see how officers would interact in more real situations. Many officers may never have come across anybody with a disability. Can they interact with them as a person first, before even thinking about how to interview them?"

As with most things, planning is all- important. Says Tilney: "We keep drumming that into our students. The interview starts well before you even meet your witness. You need to get the environment sorted - making sure the room is set out right with the appropriate refreshments, so you're not offering them cola or orange juice if they're diabetic."


But it's not just training for the team: there's also policy work and, critically, drawing on their skills and experience, an advice and guidance service. "We provide a 24-hour helpline in the sense that we both have mobile phones. And everyone, it seems, has our numbers," says Smith.

"We do it voluntarily, but they do all seem to want to ring during Coronation Street or while I'm out shopping," Tilney smiles. "But we'd much rather they phoned up and got a bit of constructive advice. Quite often it's a really simple thing that you can answer in two seconds; and if you can help someone then it's great, because it's a step further in the right direction."

The Metropolitan Police - as with social work - is no stranger to bad press. But with its vulnerable and intimidated witness team it is certainly taking bold steps in the right direction. Indeed, Annette Brooke, MP and chair of Voice UK's all-party parliamentary group, agrees: "This is very important work and it is good to see the Metropolitan Police tackling this subject so sensitively."

Lessons learned

• First impressions are important: "If you don't get it right at your first meeting with the victim or witness you could mess it up for everything that happens thereafter," says Smith.
• Watch what you wear. "You can't expect to go into an interview suite in full uniform as a figure of authority and get some meaningful conversation with somebody," adds Tilney. "All they will be thinking is that police arrest people and take them away."
• The commitment, skills and enthusiasm of the team are crucial. "It has been a privilege to work with police officers dedicated to ensuring that vulnerable people have access to justice," comments Kathryn Stone, director of Voice UK.