Punch: Facilitating the meeting behind the play
Nicola Fowler is an experienced Restorative Justice practitioner and Assistant Director at Remedi. She is also now seeing one of the Restorative Justice cases she delivered being played out on stage in James Graham’s play, Punch. In this interview with our Communications and Campaigns Manager, Keeva Baxter, Nicola shares her journey into Restorative Justice, her experience delivering the case that is featured in ‘Punch’, and what it’s like seeing herself played on stage.
A journey into Restorative Justice
Nicola started her career supporting victims of crime, before being trained in Restorative Justice by Remedi. Having worked directly with victims, she then began working with young people and delivering Restorative Justice at Rotherham Youth Justice Service for 18 months. Discussing the shift from primarily victim-focused work to working with young people involved in the justice system, Nicola said “I found that there were a lot of similarities in the work, there is always a back story as to why somebody has become involved in offending behaviour. And sadly there is a very fine line between victimisation and offending. So the type of support that you could provide to somebody that had been involved in offending was not too dissimilar to providing support to somebody that had been affected as a victim of crime”.
During this stage, her caseload was high, roughly between 60 and 70 at any one time. “They were big caseloads back then and there were more people coming through to youth justice services than there are now… those numbers have significantly reduced”.
As a result of her time working at Rotherham, Nicola became really interested in developing more Restorative Justice. “There’s a lot that can be done in relation to providing that supportive approach, as opposed to necessarily always a punitive approach.”
Nicola then moved into Barnsley Youth Justice Service as a Remedi Manager for a few years, leading a complex team. Following this, she moved into the adult arena, heading up the South Yorkshire criminal justice team. During both of these roles, she facilitated some Restorative Justice cases, whilst also leading teams of people and liaising with prisons and probation.
Nicola has stayed with Remedi throughout her career, now holding the role of Assistant Director. She continues to deliver cases when she can; “I still from time to time take cases just purely to keep a hand in and because I love it”. She also does supervision and oversight work, quality assurance, runs sensitive and complex forums, and develops tools around the delivery of Restorative Justice.
The impact of facilitation
“There’s been a number (of cases) along the way that haven’t actually necessarily reached a restorative conference that have really stuck with me”, she says.
In one sexual offence case that faced reluctance from multiple partner agencies, the preparation alone brought “significant benefit” to those involved. “I remember us getting a letter from the Harmer actually, thanking us for treating them as an individual and as a human being. And for the first time, they felt that they were listened to – and that they understood themselves and their offending behaviour better than ever before.”
“There is nothing more palpable than being in a meeting and seeing somebody’s shoulders physically drop because they’re letting go of some of that tension. It’s extremely powerful to see. But an indirect exchange can be just as powerful because it’s about what those individuals want and need from the process, not what anybody else thinks should be the right thing for them.”
The story behind Punch: Working with Jacob, Joan and David
In 2012, Nicola built a relationship with the local Victim Support homicide service, becoming the preferred provider for Restorative Justice. The first case that came across Nicola’s desk from this partnership was Jacob Dunne’s. Jacob, then aged 19, had been on a night out when he threw a single, unprovoked punch at a man called James Hodgkinson. James spent 9 days in hospital before dying from his injuries.
As the relationship with the homicide service was newly established, Nicola decided to facilitate the case herself, with a colleague, Jan. Through a referral from the Homicide Case Worker, Nicola and Jan were able to reach David and Joan, the parents of James Hodgkinson, who had requested Restorative Justice. In the first meeting, the facilitators spent time managing David and Joan’s expectations, explaining that there was a possibility they may not even be able to speak to Jacob to gauge his interest.
Despite initial hesitations, thanks to the support of his Probation Officer, Nicola and Jan were able to meet with Jacob. They explained that James’ parents had questions and Jacob was happy for information to be passed back to them. “At the end of each contact we would always say, is there anything you’ve said today that you know you wouldn’t be happy with us sharing, or is there anything in particular that you would like us to pass on?”
By sharing information about how Jacob had presented, it helped David and Joan, “to see that there was some hope… he was no longer this violent stranger that went out to kill somebody on an evening…. he was an individual reflecting on what he had done, and there was a lot of remorse there.”
The facilitators led both parties through a letter writing process, first getting answers to questions, and later David and Joan asked about Jacob’s plans for the future. “I’ll never forget when we actually posed that question to Jacob because he looked stunned, flawed almost, and very emotional because he couldn’t quite understand why they had that capacity to be able to ask him that question. To some degree, I think that further reinforced some of the guilt and the remorse for him at that point. But it was the driving factor in him thinking about and focusing on his future.”
Over time, as Jacob was able to share his progress, the idea of meeting face to face arose. “I think Jan and I always knew that it would lead to a meeting, but it needed to be at a point where they all felt ready.”
When the day of the meeting came, both parties were extremely nervous. “David and Joan wanted to share a little bit more information about James as an individual. Jacob talked about what he’d been doing in his life and how it progressed.” After the formal meeting ended, the parties talked over some refreshments. “It was concluded on the basis of them agreeing that they wanted to work together to raise awareness of a one punch campaign”.
Thinking back, Nicola recalls, “I think I knew at that point it was always going to be quite a unique, special relationship and that they would definitely do some awareness work together which could be really impactful. I had no idea it would develop to the extent that it has done and still be going strong 14 years later”.
Spreading the word
Not long after the conference where David and Joan met Jacob, Remedi were holding a showcase at their AGM and Nicola invited them all to speak about their experience. “That was the first talk that they did together. You could hear a pin drop in the room. Everybody was blown away hearing them both speak and seeing the impact Restorative Justice had had on them.”
Nicola continued to be involved in their ongoing campaigning efforts, from ITV programmes to breakfast shows. She read through Jacob’s book, Right from Wrong, before it was published too, sharing some feedback around the key messages that would be useful for him to incorporate.
Later, the idea of turning Jacob’s book into a play was raised. “I think the prospect of a play was nerve wracking for everybody involved, but I think the way writer James Graham approached it and Jacob approached it with David and Joan, was central to it becoming what it was, because they involved them in the process… I think the way James Graham has done this has been brilliant because he’s really taken on the feedback.”
Nicola supported Jacob, Joan and David through the creation of the play and they were all given the opportunity to comment on the script and watch rehearsals. “I felt really strongly that we needed to get Restorative Justice across correctly.” Whilst they couldn’t get everything in the play (for example there was only one facilitator due to the number of actors in the production) Nicola’s suggestions were heard. “A lot of the feedback was taken on board, which for me felt really important because you’ve got that one opportunity to try and get that message across.”
One of the characters in the play ‘Punch’ is Nicola herself, who is shown supporting the parties and facilitating the meeting. “It’s been very bizarre watching somebody else play me.” Initially in rehearsals, the character representing Nicola was quite formal and professional, but Nicola explained in her feedback that when meeting possible participants, a more relaxed and personable approach is taken, which was incorporated.
Ultimately, being involved in the play has been a positive process for those who lived through it, and has had a wider impact on the criminal justice sector too. “I think it has definitely put Restorative Justice more in the spotlight.”
“When I watch it, I still feel very emotional. And I think I feel even more emotional because I know them.”
The play was completely sold out in its run in Nottingham. It then ran at the Young Vic theatre in London and is now moving to the West End, appearing at the Apollo Theatre in September 2025. You can find out more and get tickets to watch the play here.
You can hear more about this story in Jacob’s podcast, Right from Wrong.
