Former Victims’ Commissioner honoured by Northumbria University

Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, the Right Honourable Baroness Newlove of Warrington, has received the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law from Northumbria University, Newcastle.

Lady Newlove has championed victims’ rights and tirelessly campaigned for community reform, particularly in relation to alcohol-related violence, since the murder of her husband and father of her three daughters, Garry Newlove, in 2007.

Mr Newlove was attacked outside their home in Warrington, Cheshire after he confronted a gang of youths who were vandalising his wife’s car. This had not been an isolated incident but a long-running campaign of youth gang crime in the Padgate area of the town. The youths repeatedly kicked and punched Mr Newlove and he died just a few days later of his injuries. Three youths were sentenced to life imprisonment, two other suspects, also teenagers, were tried for the murder but found not guilty.

She reinvigorated the role of Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, which had previously been in abeyance, serving the maximum permitted two terms in the role between 2012 and 2019. She was succeeded by former Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Dame Vera Baird.

In 2014, after producing a major report setting out priorities to help people make a difference in their neighbourhood in her role as Champion for Active Safer Communities, Lady Newlove became one of Northumbria University’s prestigious Eldon Lecturers, delivering a lecture entitled The Victim’s Code: Protection and Promotion of Victims’ Rights in the Criminal Justice System.

Northumbria’s Eldon Lectures are named after Lord Eldon, one of Newcastle’s most influential lawyers and a former Lord Chancellor. They take place in Northumbria Law School and showcase an array of influential speakers from across the legal profession.

Speaking about her honorary degree, Lady Newlove said: “I am delighted to be awarded an honorary degree from Northumbria University and I look forward to being part of an international community who are making a real difference in the world today. I’m particularly pleased to be awarded this honour alongside our Northumbria Law Graduates. I know they will make a real difference by actively listening and treating those voices affected by crime with dignity and respect, as they operate within their important roles in the legal profession.”

Lady Newlove was given a peerage in the 2010 and sits in the House of Lords where she is currently Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chair of Committees. Following the announcement that she was to enter the House of Lords, Lady Newlove commented that she was “just an ordinary woman, propelled into high profile by a set of horrifying circumstances which I wish with all my heart had never occurred”.