Mum takes family crime fight into jails
Oct 25, 2011
From the article by Jane Hammond in the West Australia:
The mother of a 15-year-old schoolgirl murdered by a teenage love rival has called for compassion for prisoners and their families.
In an emotional address to an ecumenical service in St Mary's Cathedral for Anti-Poverty Week, Karen Lang described how the brutal murder of her only daughter devastated the close-knit family.
Ms Lang's daughter Jessica died in 1998 in the family's Bicton home after being stabbed 47 times by 18-year-old Kelly Fuller.
She described how she could no longer cook in the kitchen where her daughter bled to death and how her husband, who found her body, was so traumatised he had difficulty entering the home again.
...Despite her grief, Ms Lang has found the strength and courage to visit prisoners in jail and help them change their lives.
She is part of the Sycamore Tree Project, a program that takes the victims of serious crimes into jails and puts them in touch with prisoners in a bid to help both parties recover from the impact of crime.
Ms Lang said she felt compassion for Kelly Fuller and for Fuller's family.
...Ms Lang said investment in programs designed to prevent crime, particularly among young people, was vital. "We have got to do something to stop the poverty and despair and the anger if we want to tackle crime," she said.
Read the full article.
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