Pick your punishment, May tells victims of crime as she unveils sweeping justice reforms 

• In an exclusive Daily Mail interview, Theresa May said home and property owners should no longer be powerless in the face of yobbery
• The Home Secretary is planning a law change to make police and crime commissioners use a 'menu' of penalties for anti-social behaviour
• The punishments are likely to include the payment of compensation, repair of damage and cleaning up a public space - victim can decide
  

By James Slack and James Chapman

PUBLISHED: 17:32 EST, 8 October 2012 | UPDATED: 09:52 EST, 9 October 2012

Victims of crime will be able to decide how the offender is punished under sweeping justice reforms unveiled today.

In an exclusive Daily Mail interview, Theresa May said home and property owners should no longer be powerless in the face of yobbery.

The Home Secretary, who delivered a speech at the Tory party conference today, is planning a law change to make police and crime commissioners use a ‘menu’ of penalties for anti-social behaviour.

Picking punishment: In an exclusive Daily Mail interview, Theresa May said home and property owners should no longer be powerless in the face of yobbery

Theresa May wore her trademark glamorous footwear to deliver her speech at the Tory party conference in Birmingham

'It may be that they want reparation for the damage that was done, so if a window has been broken they want it fixed,' said the Home Secretary

The punishments are likely to include the payment of compensation, repair of damage and cleaning up a public space.

The victim will be able to decide which one is imposed.

They have never had a direct say over how their tormentor is dealt with.

‘One of the big problems for the victims of anti-social behaviour is that they feel powerless,’ said Mrs May.

‘Somebody does something to them or their property and they feel they don’t get reparation, or feel they are not part of the process.

‘We want to ensure that they have a choice. It will mean saying to the victim: here’s a list of options, what do you want to do? They may choose to go down the restorative route, and that they want someone to say sorry.

‘It may be that they want reparation for the damage that was done, so if a window has been broken they want it fixed.

‘It may be that they want an offender to do something not immediately in relation to them, but for the community.’

Mrs May said some offenders were not even aware of the impact of their actions – and had to have the effects made clear.

   
She added: ‘It’s also about giving victims transparency. One of the complaints I hear very regularly from victims is that they have reported an incident to the police but they don’t know what happens after that. It’s about putting the victim first. They’ve suffered and they should have a say in what happens.’

The new power, outlined to the Tory conference today, has been named the ‘community remedy’.

It will be used for low-level crimes, such as criminal damage, which would normally be dealt with by a caution.

Police and crime commissioners, who will be elected for the first time in each police force area in England and Wales next month, will be at the centre of the new system.

If the offender refused to accept the conditions offered, the alternative would be court proceedings.

It is hoped the new regime will add bite to cautions, which are currently dismissed as a ‘slap on the wrist’.

Last year, 232,000 were handed out – 4,700 of them for criminal damage.

The new policy could also give a much needed boost to the idea of elected police commissioners.

David Cameron’s flagship law and order measure has met with a lack of public enthusiasm. There are predictions the turnout for the commissioner elections could be as low as 20 per cent.

The officials will have the power to set police priorities and budgets.

In her speech, Mrs May restated the government’s commitment to slash net migration – currently more than 200,000 – to the ‘tens of thousands’.

The Home Secretary is also considering plans to scrap the Human Rights Act after revealing it is responsible for delaying a deportation or extradition case every day.

Mrs May's get tough message on crime was applauded by Tory conference delegates

She has ordered her own study into replacing it with a bill of rights and responsibilities.

It will be seen as a vote of no confidence in the Coalition’s ‘Commission on a Bill of Rights’, which was supposed to  end the abuse of human rights law.

Critics say the panel has been hijacked by liberals determined to defend the status quo. It recently considered enshrining in law the right to claim benefits.