Youths responsible for vandalising a Nottinghamshire park with graffiti spent the day cleaning up the site. Three offenders found to be involved in spraying parks walls with obscenities were tasked with litter picking at Sherwood Avenue Park, Newark, and St Mary Magdalene's Church Gardens as part of a restorative justice process.
Newark and Sherwood District Council’s public protection team have been working with Nottinghamshire Police to identify the culprits and arrange the exercise. The perpetrators were joined by community safety officers and a police officer throughout the day.
Pictures show the graffiti plastered around the park, as well as the bags of litter that the group were forced to pick as part of their punishment. Restorative justice is designed to provide an opportunity for the police to deal with appropriate low-level offences without going through formal criminal justice sanctions, which could result in a young person having a criminal record for what could be a momentary lapse of judgement.
