Steve and Luke were referred to the restorative approaches service after having had a fight, during which they were both injured. At first Steve did not want to have a restorative meeting with Luke, feeling as though he would not be able to say the right thing, worrying that it would be unsafe, and thinking that Luke would retaliate before giving him the chance to explain.

My work on a one-to-one basis with Steve helped him to reflect further on the fight. He talked about his identity and upbringing as a traveller and admitted that he had found that violence was often the default way of dealing with problems. Restorative questioning helped him to reflect on the harm that this caused and he decided that he did not want to engage in this behaviour anymore.

Through me, Steve passed Luke a message, extending out a hand and making clear his intentions to move forward peacefully. This allowed Luke and Steve to meet naturally, safely, and discuss between each other what had happened, and what needed to happen next. The two individuals moved on from the incident. Steve went on to undertake equalities work at the prison, positively representing the traveller community within several prison wings.