On the 22nd of February 2023, my life was violently and irrevocably altered. I was hit head-on by a driver under the influence of both drink and drugs, travelling at 85mph in a 30mph zone. The fact that I am alive to write this article is a matter of quality German engineering and sheer luck.

In an instant, I was given a new label: “victim.” It was my entry point into Scotland’s criminal justice system – a nearly two-year journey that ultimately delivered justice but exposed a process burdened by archaic systems, painful delays, and a profound lack of modern communication.

The driver was rightly imprisoned, and for that, I am grateful. But my experience reveals a system that fails its victims long before a verdict is reached. It is also a system that Scotland has a historic opportunity to transform, not just for victims like me, but for the dedicated professionals working within it.

The Human Cost of an Analogue System

My story is one of systemic friction. Trying to get case updates meant calling the 101 non-emergency number – a frustrating void where I would wait on hold for what felt like forever, only to find the investigating officer was on a rest day, at court, or on annual leave. Follow-up interviews were equally difficult to arrange. Officers, through no fault of their own, would arrive at my door unannounced, and on several occasions, I wasn’t home.

When I did connect with the investigating officers, they were fantastic – empathetic and professional. The fault doesn’t lie with them, but with the outdated, inefficient system they are forced to navigate.

Months after the incident, a formal letter arrived from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). It informed me the accused had been charged with a violent offence and included a leaflet on ‘how to stay safe’.  Whilst well-intentioned, receiving this cold, formal notice months after the event, with no immediate human context, only heightened my anxiety about the incident and lengthy court process to follow. The communication felt reactive when it needed to be reassuring.

This reliance on paper and post continued. When the time came to provide a Victim Impact Statement, I was stunned to find the only option was to handwrite it and post it by Royal Mail. In 2024, the system still depended on a postage stamp to hear my voice.

The final, most disheartening failure came at the very end. I learned the accused had been sentenced not from the justice system meant to support me, but from an article in the local press. The official letter from COPFS arrived three days later, a formal confirmation of what I already knew.

A National Crisis of Confidence and Delay

My experience is not an outlier. It is a symptom of a system in crisis. The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2021/22 revealed that only 38% of victims felt they were kept well-informed about the progress of their case by the police and The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2023/24 revealed that just over 50% of victims who experienced violent or property crimes were satisfied with their interaction with the police.

On day-to-day communication, the Inspectorate of Prosecution’s 2025 review of COPFS’s National Enquiry Point details heavy volumes, abandoned calls, and failure demand – symptoms of a system struggling to keep people informed when they most need clarity.

My nearly two-year wait for a resolution reflects a crippling backlog in our courts as at the time; a report from Audit Scotland in 2023 highlighted the immense pressure on the system, with trial delays becoming the norm. For those two years, the man who nearly killed me remained on the roads, a continued risk to public safety. This is the tangible, dangerous consequence of an inefficient system.

The Vision: A Proven, Intelligent, and Victim-Centred Future

My path towards advocating for change began at a Salesforce Masterclass during a FutureScot conference. As I watched a fully integrated victim journey solution demonstrated, I realised I was seeing a digital alternative to every frustrating phone call, every posted letter, and every moment of uncertainty I had endured.

It was the blueprint for what my experience should have been. That moment was transformative. It inspired me to change my career path and join Salesforce, driven by a mission to help bring this potential to Scotland’s justice system.

Scotland has a choice. We can continue to patch an analogue system, or we can seize this moment to build a world-leading model for victim-centred justice. 

More than two decades ago, Northern Ireland’s Causeway programme proved that integrating justice agencies was possible. They successfully connected police, prosecutors, courts, prisons and forensics through an electronic information-sharing system, creating a seamless flow of data among the different stakeholders involved in the criminal justice system. This innovative solution replaced paper and re-keying with electronic case files, automatic court outcomes/warrant updates, and faster, more accurate criminal records.

The result was fewer delays and adjournments, better data quality and visibility, and measurable efficiencies across agencies, supported by shared performance dashboards to target bottlenecks. Now handling millions of secure messages across tens of thousands of cases each year, Causeway has become core operational infrastructure and a platform for further reforms, ultimately delivering quicker decisions and a better experience for victims, witnesses and staff.

Today, with modern cloud platforms and Artificial Intelligence, Scotland can take a generational leap forward. The foundation is a unified digital platform, built on technology like Salesforce’s Public Sector Solution, designed to connect Police Scotland, COPFS, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and Scotland’s local authority operated probation services. This creates a single, consistent source of truth for every case.

But we can go further. With innovations like Salesforce Agentforce, we can help build a system that is not only connected, but proactive, responsive, and empathetic.

This is not a theoretical exercise. Salesforce is already collaborating with police forces across the UK and the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service to deliver victim-centric solutions. The results are compelling, showing marked increases in citizen satisfaction by providing the clarity and responsiveness victims need. Furthermore, by automating administrative tasks and streamlining communication, these solutions deliver a significant return on investment as they free up officer time from chasing paperwork and missed calls, allowing them to focus on high-value police work: investigating crime and supporting the public directly. Over an 88-week period, two forces experienced a six-figure reduction in 101 calls, significantly improving their capacity.

A recent study by Professor Ben Bradford at University College London, Merseyside Police, and Salesforce found that 95% of 638 people surveyed preferred using the Salesforce Victim Journey solution to interact with the police. Over 80% would recommend the experience. The study also showed a clear link between proactive engagement and increased trust and confidence in the police service, even among the 350 participants who were previously exposed to negative press about the police.

How Technology Delivers True Justice

The foundation is a single, cross-agency digital layer connecting Police Scotland, COPFS, and SCTS. This isn’t a rip-and-replace approach, but a unifying platform that ensures the right information is shared at the right time, with auditability and safeguards built in.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

  • Proactive, victim-choice updates: people choose portal, email, SMS, or, if they prefer, letter and telephone. Digital is an option, not an obligation.
  • A real-time case tracker: plain-English milestones, expected dates, documents, and a simple way to ask a question without re-telling your story.
  • Digitised Victim Impact Statements: a secure online form with save-and-return and identity checks; paper remains available.
  • Two-way messaging with service standards: clear response expectations and escalation paths reduce repeat calls and anxiety.
  • Intelligent, Agentic, Support: 24/7 answers to “What happens next?” and “What does this term mean?”, with seamless escalation to a person when needed.

From Victim to Advocate: A Blueprint for a Better Scotland

My journey through the justice system was unnecessarily difficult, not because of the dedicated people within it, but because of the antiquated processes that constrain them. This experience didn’t leave me bitter; it left me determined. It has empowered me to support others, and I will shortly start a volunteering role with Victim Support Scotland, helping people navigate the very same complex criminal justice system I was so often lost in.

But personal commitment can only go so far. The greater change must be collective. By embracing digital-first, AI-enhanced approaches, we can give victims the dignity of information, empower professionals with efficient tools, and create a justice system that is transparent, timely, and truly serves the public.

Imagine how my journey could have been with this type of technology-enabled solution. It would have fundamentally changed my experience as a victim. Instead of chasing updates, the system would have put communication in my hands – allowing me to choose how I received information and giving me confidence every step of the way.

Scotland has always been a nation of innovators. Let us forge a justice system that is as compassionate and forward-thinking as its people. The time for change is now.

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