Description
Criminal justice and forgiveness has been one of our core investigations over the past 20 years, particularly in our prison programme, RESTORE. Forgiveness is as difficult to grapple with in these spaces as it is in the public domain, and it leads us to contemplate the question ‘are we more than the worst thing we have done?’.
On the panel speaking alongside three of our storytellers, Jacob Dunne, Anne-Marie Cockburn and Dunia Shafik, will be the eminent forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Gwen Adshead, who recently delivered the brilliant 2024 BBC Reith Lectures. In these lectures, Dr. Adshead spoke of the complexities of human violence and the dual capacity for good and evil within individuals.
Her words in particular inspired this event: “I think what is most important to me is understanding that we may be more alike than we are different, and that if circumstances were different, I myself might find myself to be a violent perpetrator.”
In response, Jacob spoke this from the audience: “The way we deal with people doing bad things is to treat them like they are bad people, but I was demonised forever, and I could not see my way out.”
On the panel
Dr. Gwen Adshead
Dr. Gwen Adshead is a forensic psychiatrist who trained at St Bartholomew’s hospital, St George’s hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry. In 2024, she was named one of the five Honorary Fellows of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. She currently works part-time in the NHS as a consultant in a high-security hospital and women’s prison. Alongside Eileen Horne, she co-authored The Devil You Know, a book exploring her work as a therapist with perpetrators of violence.
Sandra Barefoot
Sandra has over 30 years of experience of working in group facilitation, action research, project management, mentoring, and creative programme development, with specialism in multi-disciplinary arts practices inclusive of theatre, dance, visual arts, poetry and sign language. Sandra works alongside our storytellers to create our online resources, and also managed the development and facilitation of our prison programme RESTORE.
Anne-Marie Cockburn
In July 2013 Anne-Marie’s 15-year-old daughter, Martha Fernback, spent the afternoon in an Oxford park with friends when she took a half gram of pure crystallised MDMA (ecstasy) which killed her. In the immediate aftermath of Martha’s death, Anne-Marie started to write 5742 Days (the number of days Martha lived), a book which chronicles a mother’s journey through loss. Anne-Marie has shared her story in RESTORE for many years.
Jacob Dunne
In 2011 Jacob fatally knocked a man to his death in an unprovoked attack. As a result he received a two-and-a-half-year custodial sentence for manslaughter of which he served 14 months. On leaving prison Jacob found himself homeless, unemployed and struggling to get his life back on track. With the encouragement of his victim’s parents, he endeavoured to get his life back on track. Jacob Dunne is now an educator facilitating conversations around criminal justice, education and mental health. In 2020 he helped create and present a BBC Radio 4 series The Punch based on his own life story and the transformative effect of restorative justice on his life. He is a former Longford scholar and received a first class honours degree in Criminology in 2019.
Dunia Shafik
Dunia Shafik is the visionary director and trainer behind A Life of Choices, an organisation that seeks to bridge the gaps that the justice and prison system creates, and break cycles of violence. Her journey into transformative coaching began after a life-changing experience in 2016, when her son was both a victim of stabbing and later became the perpetrator of a tragic crime. This prompted Dunia to reflect on these events and seek ways to prevent such outcomes. After seven years of learning, listening, and education, she founded A Life of Choices to inspire change and understanding among young people.
