THE question of whether enough is being done to help victims during court cases is one already being asked by East Lancashire families.

The treatment of Milly Dowler’s parents during the trial of her killer Levi Bellfield has led to an outcry both from the family themselves and the national media this weekend.

They were subjected to intense and aggressive cross-examination about their personal lives on the witness stand, with Bellfield’s QC Jeffrey Samuels trying to cloud jurors minds with a picture of an unhappy Milly tormented by her dad’s porn stash.

Nothing was off limits and Milly’s sister Gemma described that process as the ‘worst day of my life’ and akin to ‘mental torture’.

I’ve seen Mr Samuels QC in action, defending the London Road arson double murderer Mohammed Ibrahim at Preston Crown Court during last year’s trial.

Fortunately for the prosecution, they had a strong case, because the man who cleared Barry George of Jill Dando’s murder arrived with a formidable reputation – and didn’t disappoint.

Like Milly’s parents, two bereaved families in East Lancashire have voiced their criticisms of the court process following high-profile court cases.

Dave and Pat Rogers went through the crippling ordeal of a trial after their son’s 16-year-old killer tried to claim self-defence – an argument which involved an outrageous character assassination on peaceful and placid Adam’s memory.

The Rogers family, who are now campaigning in Adam’s name to try and stop senseless violence, have often said to me that the worst part of that trial was sitting in silent, crushing outrage as the defence concocted a mirage of a snarling, swearing Adam, posturing for a fight.

During the trial, the defendant was able to call on character witnesses, references and take the stand to sully Adam’s name in an attempt to squirm off the hook.

But there is no opportunity for the deceased’s family to counter with a fitting tribute of their own to balance it out.

Why not? Every family in this situation has to write a victim impact statement (VIS), which is often - outrageously in my opinion – acknowledged and then smuggled back into the file without being read out loud in open court.

Could this VIS not be used as part of the prosecution opening, which is a summary of the case against the defendant?

It would at least allow the grieving family a voice, an input into a process which can appear to be aloof, cold and inaccessible.

The argument being made around the Milly Dowler case is that the adversarial nature of our criminal justice system is designed to test the evidence of all witnesses to be sure of a safe conviction.

But for our East Lancashire families, it is more about the way the system is defendant-led rather than victim-led.

For example take the Preston Crown Court building itself.

Relatively new as courthouses go, yet clearly built with scant regard to the public.

Family and friends of victims and criminals in the most sensitive of cases are expected to sit with thighs touching in the public galleries.

John and Penny Clough, parents of murdered Barrowford nurse Jane Clough, have a number of strands to their Justice For Jane campaign.

Principal among them is the unfair weighting given to the defendant.

They cite the issue of Jonathan Vass’s successful bail applications, which ultimately left him free to stab and kill Jane to stop her from testifying against him for raping her.

The Bail Act currently allows for a defendant to appeal against being in custody, but if granted bail, there is no opportunity to challenge that decision for the prosecution.

How can that be right, balanced and fair?

The fact that crucial decisions such as these are sometimes taken in chambers or ‘in camera’ – behind closed doors effectively – doesn’t sit well with traditional legal principles of open justice.

Our brave, campaigning East Lancashire families are pushing for improvements.

On Tuesday, with the help of Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson, the Clough family will be at the House of Commons, asking for victims to be put first.

They have the backing of the government’s victims’ commissioner Louise Casey, who is helping their fight.

The clamour for change keeps getting louder and there are now several new voices from Milly Dowler’s family joining those from our county.