UK mum forgives son’s killer after one-punch attack and finds healing

Joan Scourfield and Jacob Dunne are advocates for restorative justice after going through the process themselves. Photo / Instagram @jacobfreeman

A British mother has opened up about finding forgiveness for the man who killed her son in a coward-punch attack, and how she now campaigns alongside him to promote restorative justice.

Joan Scourfield lost her son James Hodgkinson, 28, in 2011, after he was punched during a brawl at a Nottingham bar, reports the BBC.

He suffered a traumatic brain injury and died nine days later.

Jacob Dunne, who was 19 at the time, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 30 months in a youth justice facility.

“People were getting more for stealing a television and all you get back is ‘that was with intent’,” Scourfield said.

“I thought James’ life was worth more... what justice had James got?”

Scourfield and then-husband James initiated a restorative justice process while Dunne was still in custody, writing him letters in the hope he would explain why he had done it.

Recalling their first in-person meeting, Scourfield said she had only seen Dunne’s mugshot.

“So I was expecting this evil person to walk in, and this vulnerable young man walked in the room,” she told the BBC.

She said Dunne was taken aback that someone cared enough to ask about his future.

A production of Punch, a play about mother Joan Scourfield's journey to forgiveness. Photo / Nottingham Playhouse

“I didn’t want this revolving door of him going in and out of prison, getting worse and worse, and maybe other families going through what I’m going through,” she said.

“I cared about him because I wanted him to stop the violence.”

Dunne said the parties agreed on next steps at the end of that meeting.

“They wanted to do some campaigning and education around one-punch deaths,” he told the Guardian last year.

“It gives me purpose, but it’s complicated. I’ve become defined by the worst thing I ever did, the worst choice I ever made.

“The only reason I’m able to is because the people who I harmed the most judge me the least. That’s what I hold on to when hate is directed my way.”

Joan Scourfield and Jacob Dunne have appeared in Q+A sessions after performances of the acclaimed play Punch. Photo / Nottingham Playhouse

Their story has been reimagined in the acclaimed play Punch, which has earned praise on Broadway and the West End.

Scourfield and Dunne were involved in the production’s creative process and have appeared for Q+A sessions after performances.

Scourfield told the BBC that audiences are often astonished to see the pair embrace on stage.

“I’ve got to move forward and I didn’t want to be consumed with grief and this is my way forward, to get some good out of him,” Scourfield said.

“Other people in his gang have changed their life around because of it, so surely some good’s coming out of it.”

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