Former army general praises Cheshire Probation’s new pioneering project

Nov 11 2010 Chester Chronicle

A PIONEERING project to help ex-servicemen and women who get into trouble with the law in Cheshire has been praised by a former top army general.

Lord David Ramsbotham GCB CBE, the British Army’s Adjutant General from 1990 to 1993 and a former HM Inspector of Prisons, said he was delighted with the scheme which will see special Veteran Support Officers in all six of Cheshire Probation’s offices across the county.

These are at Macclesfield, Crewe, Warrington, Runcorn, Winsford and Chester and the VSOs will be able to help deal with the special problems which have caused ex-soldiers, sailors and airmen and women to fall into the criminal justice system.

The scheme has been masterminded by ex-army Sergeant Alan Lilly, now a Probation Service Officer, who is the Veteran Support Co-ordinator for the county.

According to Mr Lilly, many Veterans struggle to come to terms with life in civvy street and find themselves in trouble with the law, often through problems with drink, drugs and homelessness.

Lord Ramsbotham said: “I’m very pleased with the scheme. Ever since I heard about it I have been a strong supporter and I hope this pilot will be picked up by others across the country.

“Someone needed to do it and thanks to Alan Lilly’s initiative it is being done. As a veteran himself he speaks the language of ex-servicemen and women and he understands their problems.

“The British Legion is funding the training forCheshire Probation's Veteran Support Officersand that’s important because it is the public part of the armed forces covenant which the Prime Minister has talked about.

“Donations from the public are going to help veterans and keep them out of prison.”

Alan Lilly, a probation service officer for eight years, told the launch event at Thorn Cross Young Offenders' Institution, near Warrington: “In Probation our bread and butter is preventing offenders going back to prison – it makes sound business sense because it costs so much to keep someone locked up. Although the vast majority of veterans make the transition back to civilian life very successfully, some find it more difficult.

“We have been fighting somewhere hot and sandy for a considerable time and veterans of Suez and Aden in the 50s and 60s are still turning up in our courts.

“There are complexities unique to ex-service personnel. You can be a very good soldier, sailor or airman or woman, leave the Forces and then find out you don’t make a very good civilian.

“Our aim is to help them be good civilians who make a positive contribution to society and we need to consider not just veterans but also their families.”

Mr Lilly, a former cavalry soldier with the 13th/18thRoyal Hussars for 16 years, joined the probation service in 2002 after five years with the Prison Service, said that it was important that police, courts and probation asked the question ‘have you been in the Armed Forces?’ when dealing with offenders.

He added that a survey carried out over a six-week period with 64 veterans dealt with by Cheshire Probation had shown that 75% served less than six years in the armed forces and 69% were under 25 when discharged.

“They’re the ones who get into trouble, they’re the ones who tend to do the fighting. They can have done two tours in Afghanistan by that age.

“We need to have a means within the criminal justice system of identifying veterans and helping them and in Cheshire we will have two Veteran Support Officers from our existing staffing pool in each of our six offices to deal with all our new veteran offenders.”

Cheshire Probation's Assistant Chief Executive John Davidson said that Veteran Support Officers would be ex-services themselves or people with a real interest and empathy with ex-services personnel.

“They are better able to connect with veterans and have a better understanding of their issues,” he said.

“We are also looking to work with our partners in the police and the courts to get them to ask the question, ‘have you been in the Armed Forces?’ so we can help signpost them to the services that are available to them.”