Charity that supports crime victims through court process opens new office in Cork

Victim Support at Court (V-Sac) has opened its new office alongside the Criminal Courts of Justice complex on Anglesea Street. Picture: Larry Cummins

A charity that supports thousands of victims of crime through the often difficult legal and court process has opened a new office in Cork City.

The official opening of the Victim Support at Court (V-Sac) office by Justice Minister Helen McEntee on Thursday came after she launched the third and final phase of the gardaí’s ‘proof of concept’ project for body-worn cameras in Waterford.

Some 200 body-worn cameras are now in use in Waterford Garda Station, where uniformed and plain clothes members attached to the crime unit and drugs unit, and detectives attached to the Divisional Protective Services Unit, will use them as part of the rollout.

They will wear Motorola Solutions V500 cameras — the first time this new camera has been deployed in Europe. The camera has a 130-degree field of vision, a 12-hour battery life and can store four days of data.

It brings to five the number of Garda stations using body-worn cameras, and brings the number of body-worn cameras available for use nationally to 600, with 200 in Limerick, 100 in Store Street, and 50 each in Kevin Street and Pearse Street.

In Cork, Ms McEntee hailed the V-Sac service as she opened its new office alongside the Criminal Courts of Justice complex on Anglesea Street, and formally launched its strategic plan 2025-2027.

Last year, V-Sac supported 2,717 people through criminal proceedings across the country, including murder, rape, domestic violence, assault and  theft — up 37% compared to 2022. Of those, 15 attended courts across Munster.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee: 'Through court accompaniment, V-Sac offers people a professional and compassionate service during what can be a very difficult and unsettling time'. Picture: Damien Storan

It involved 47 bail applications, 32 pre-trial visits, 535 trials or hearings, 11 retrials, 99 sentencing hearings, seven appeals and 31 others such as mentions or arraignments.

The trials involved rape and sexual assault cases, assault cases, domestic violence cases and others, including human trafficking, criminal damage and theft, in the central criminal, circuit and district courts.

There were also 8,166 individual contact meetings with victims, an increase of 41% on 2022.

With the Central Criminal Court sitting outside Dublin, it is expected more criminal trials in cities including Cork and Limerick, will lead to a greater demand for V-Sac volunteers.

Ms McEntee said: “Through court accompaniment, V-Sac offers people a professional and compassionate service during what can be a very difficult and unsettling time.” 

V-Sac coordinator David Hickey said the location of its Cork office beside the courthouse could not be better.

“It means that all victims coming to court have access to support when they need it,” he said.

The charity’s general manager, Dympna Kenny, said they were reaching more and more people and as long as the need was there, V-Sac would ensure victims, their families and prosecution witnesses were not alone and could navigate the courts with dignity and resilience.

V-Sac has more than 70 volunteers, who in 2023 gave 2,151 days of their time to support victims, their families and witnesses through the court process.

Professor Marie Cassidy, a patron of the group, said the justice system was a vast and complex machine. 

“The vital role of V-Sac, guiding a path through it, at a time when people are at their most vulnerable, cannot be underestimated,” she said.