I came face to face with my twin's killer

Desperate to understand why two strangers brutally murdered his brother, Nick Dawson took the drastic step of meeting one of them in prison. Now to mark Restorative Justice Week, he tells KAREN ROCKETT why he is certain he made the right decision

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ONE of them was a lone twin after his brother was brutally murdered, the other was a convicted killer, but they had one thing in common when they sat face to face for the first time... they were both serving a life sentence.

In August 1998, computer programmer Simon Dawson had been on a night out with friends in Birkenhead when he left a nightclub alone.

Walking to a nearby park in Bromborough, Simon, 30, was attacked by two teenagers, robbed, kicked, beaten senseless and thrown into a nearby pond, where he drowned.

Craig Roberts, 16, and Carl Harrison, 19, pleaded not guilty to the killing but the verdicts were unanimous. Harrison was sentenced to life, and Roberts a minimum of 10 years.

About 16 years after Simon's death, Nick and his family were invited to the probation hearing of Roberts, and afterwards Nick was invited to take part in a restorative justice meeting with him, described by the Restorative Justice Council as “enabling everyone affected by a particular incident to play a part in repairing the harm and finding a positive way forward”.

While Simon's angry and heartbroken parents couldn't entertain the idea of any reconciliation, identical twin brother Nick, who lives in Weybridge, Surrey, with wife Jules (they have two grownup children Edward and Keira), decided with much trepidation, to give it a try.

It was to be the beginning of a whole new chapter for Nick, processing his twin's murder but also becoming a campaigner and advocate for restorative justice. He has gone on to give talks in prisons, work for the restorative justice charity Why Me, and write a book called Face to Face: Finding Justice for my Murdered Twin Brother, about his personal experience.

Speaking during Restorative Justice Week, running until Saturday, Nick, 57, says: “I actually attended the parole hearing of Carl in July and he was released after 27 years in August.