Jacob Dunne, now, 23, Author of Right from wrong spoke at the Media trust conference hosted by the criminal justice alliance, Warner brothers and the media trust. The criminal justice alliance in partnership with media trust commissioned 10 short films in relation to the various aspects of criminal justice. Mr Dunne, used this platform to speak of his lived experience of being jailed for 14 months on charges of manslaughter and how restorative justice was used to rehabilitate him and present him with opportunities he otherwise would not have had access to.
In 2011, the esteemed author, Jacob Dunne was 19 when he fatally punched a man in an unprovoked attack. Dunne punched 28 year old James Hodgkinson, a trainee paramedic who fell to the ground immediately . Hodgkinson was taken to the hospital but pronounced dead 9 days after the attack . A post mortem found Mr.. Hodgkinson had sustained a fractured skull and suffered a brain hemorrhage which resulted in his death.
The courts decided Dunne should serve a two and a half year custodial sentence on charges of manslaughter which he served 14 months of. While in prison, Dunne spoke of feeling overwhelmed by self pity and at the time he considered himself a victim of circumstance. Dunne stated he left prison a worse person than he was when he entered .
In the book right from wrong Dunne also speaks of being a somewhat troubled youth and not taking education seriously he had skipped alot of classes , been excluded from two different schools by the age of 15 and did not sit his GCSE examinations.and how he had developed a “gang mentality’ .
After serving his custodial sentence Dunne was released from prison upon his release he was unemployed , homeless and struggling to build a meaningful life for himself . He was then contacted by his probation officer who asked if he would be interested in participating in a restorative justice program . To which he agreed he was then presented with the opportunity to be in contact with his victims family .
Restorative Justice is a new approach to rehabilitation and restoration of inmates. It provides them with a chance to take responsibility for the crimes they have committed by meeting with the friends and family of their victims, listening and answering whatever questions they may have surrounding the incidents as well as showing them the lived consequences of their actions.
Initially the contact between dunne and the victims parents David and Joan was through mediators from the restorative justice charity Remedi. Dunne described this a pivotal turning point for him as he was confronted by the harsh reality of how his actions that night had impacted the victims family . He no longer saw himself as a victim .
During correspondence between Dunne and David and Joan they encouraged him to go to university where he later earned his degree in Criminology, he then went on to write his book: right from wrong where he recounts the events of that night. His book credits David and Joan Hodgkinson, the parents of his victim and details how they “saved him”. As well as, everything he learned about accountability, remorse and restorative justice . His book has since been adapted into a play called Punch by BAFTA and Olivier award winning play/screenwriter James Graham .
Dunne said “its extraordinary to think that the people I harmed the most , were the people to judge me the least “ Dunne is now an advocate for restorative justice and dedicates much of his life to activism work and trying to prevent such tragic circumstances from repeating. It was inspiring to hear how he has transformed his life and lives to serve others now .