SPEAKING to her victims helped knock convicted burglar Lianne Gratton out of a life of crime.

The former house-breaker, who stole to fund her £100-a-day heroin and crack cocaine habit, is evangelical about the power of restorative justice programmes that pair offenders with their victims in a bid to rehabilitate the convicted and help victims answer the question “why me?”

Lianne, 34, was among the speakers at a conference organised by the county’s police and crime commissioner looking at the potential of restorative justice.

For mum-of-one Lianne, who has served two jail terms for burglary from 2013, it has the potential to lift convicts out of crime: “It made me see what I’d done to other people. Having them sat in front of me telling me what I’d done, breaking into their houses and stealing their jewellery. One lady sat there and said the jewellery I’d taken had been given to her by her father before he died.

“I found it very powerful. It’s a way of facing up to things. I would never have known what I’d done if I hadn’t met the people I’d harmed.”

The Cheltenham woman added: “They were quite angry. They didn’t shout, but you could see the anger in their eyes.

“It showed me what I did was completely wrong. I didn’t want to be sat in that position again.”

However, the process proved cathartic not only for Lianne, but the three burglary victims she met face-to-face. One woman even finished their interview by hugging the former house-breaker.

Under the Victim’s Code, anyone who has been a victim of crime has the right to some restorative justice measures like reading a statement in court detailing how the offence has affected them.

In Wiltshire, restorative justice is part and parcel of how many organisations work, ranging from the police and council youth offending teams to – increasingly – the county’s schools.

Last year, over 90 per cent of the 122 victims of young Swindon criminals opted to take part in a restorative justice measure, from agreeing to receiving a letter from their under-18 tormentor to sitting down to meet with the young person.

And Matt Bywater, who leads Swindon Borough Council’s youth offending team, said the process was not a simple one for the young people his officers support: “The easy option for the offender is just to be locked in a cell. This turns that round and really can be quite emotionally powerful.

“Restorative justice is not an easy option by any stretch of the imagination.”