Tag: criminal justice

On January 22nd 2015, the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Dr Alan Smith, took part in a debate on improving access to the criminal justice system and victim support for people with autism spectrum disorders. The debate was precipitated by the case of Faruk Ali, a young autistic man who was attacked in Luton.

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness for this debate. As has already been said, Faruk Ali comes from Luton, a town in my own diocese. Quite a number of people have raised that case with me and have been concerned about what happened, so I am glad to be able to involve myself in this debate. However, I will leave it to other noble Lords to comment on the specifics of the debate—I, too, have read the media on this—as clearly it raises a number of wider problems. At an early stage I pay tribute to all those people, both professional and volunteers, who work in the statutory services and in the charitable sector, who are doing a very good job at huge personal cost and with great expertise. We need to acknowledge what they are doing and affirm it before looking at some of the problems. Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans calls for improved access to the criminal justice system and victim support for vulnerable people”