'Victims should feel safe in court,' says judge

Judge Martyn Levett said support was available for victims of crimes within courts

A criminal judge said he wanted women and girls who are victims of violent crime to feel safe in courtrooms.

Martyn Levett has worked as a judge since 2000 and has been the resident judge at Ipswich Crown Court since 2017.

Throughout his years, he has presided over several cases involving violence against women and girls and said there were measures in place to help support victims of crimes when in court.

"We have screens, we have television links, we have the opportunity for them to be cross-examined before the trial actually takes place, and this pre-recorded evidence is then played when they are not present, and therefore they need not have any fears of any retribution," he said.

Judge Levett, who will step down as the resident judge in Ipswich later this year, added: "The message that I'd like to give the public is that they need not fear coming to the public or coming to the courtroom in order to tell their story.

"The reason for that is we've got many special measures these days which the witness can have."

Judge Martyn Levett has sat as the resident judge at Ipswich Crown Court since 2017

Judge Levett believed the criminal justice system was "working better than it ever has done", but said it was often "unavoidable" for victims not to relive their experiences.

During his tenure, Judge Levett sat through several high-profile cases, including the murder of Anita Rose in Brantham and the murder of Courtney Mitchell in Ipswich.

"Suffolk is not immune from shocking cases... Suffolk is no different from any other county, and in fact, when you look at these statistical figures, Suffolk is one of the safest counties you can live in," he added.

'Take action'

On Wednesday, Judge Levett attended an event at the University of Suffolk exploring safety challenges facing the county and how to tackle them.

Prof Miranda Horvath, director of the Institute for Social Justice and Crime at the University of Suffolk, whose research has focused on violence against women and girls, was also in attendance.

She explained feeling safe was "different for everybody", and authorities needed to "work towards more understanding of what safety means for different people" to help create lots of different safe spaces.

"When we see unacceptable behaviour, when we see people making others uncomfortable, we all have a responsibility to intervene and be a good bystander when we can," she added.

"Ultimately, if we want a safe world, and we all deserve to feel safe, we've all got to take action to do it."