MORE than 1,000 violent criminals apologised or made it up to their victims instead of going to court last year.
They faced victims and said sorry, paid compensation or fixed the damage they caused.
The alternative form of punishment is known as restorative justice and it aims to get offenders to face up to the human impact of their crimes.
Notts Police used restorative justice for about 2,500 crimes in 2012. More than 1,000 of them were violent offences.
In 51 cases it was used with people who caused 'actual bodily harm', rather than the more minor common assault.
The force also used it in four cases where officers were assaulted. Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping was concerned that restorative justice was being used for some violent crime. He said: "In principle I'm in favour but it must meet the needs of the victim and the offender."
Hucknall mother Lynne Massey, 36, said it helped her family get over an assault which put her teenage son Callum in hospital. She said: "We could have asked the police to have him charged but I didn't want to put my son through a court case."
