IMAGINE you're a victim of crime. You're feeling frightened, upset and violated. But you can stand up in court and give evidence in the hope that it will lead to the offender being convicted and appropriately punished.

But what if you can't understand the questions being asked of you in court, and can't get your side of the story across?

That's the scenario facing adults with communication difficulties and children.

Experts say their vulnerabilities make them most likely to be victims of crime and least likely to be cope with the court process.

But a new scheme being rolled out across Dorset aims to put an end to those inequalities and give everyone access to justice.

Police investigating any crime involving an adult with learning difficulties or a child can now use a specially trained intermediary to help them communicate.

"It's a national scheme," explained Dorset's chief crown prosecutor Kate Brown.

"The people include speech therapists and other professionals who have experience in communicating with anybody with communication difficulties.

"Adults or children with learning difficulties and children will fit into that."

If investigating police feel a victim or witness could benefit from the help of an intermediary they will fill out a form and send it to a central location.

The witness or victim is then matched with an intermediary, who will help police find the best way of interacting with the person concerned.

"What we are looking for is ways of communicating to obtain the evidence in order to build a case against a suspect," said Kate.

If that suspect is then charged and pleads not guilty in court, the services of the intermediary can also be used during the trial, as long as the court agrees.

The idea is to enable the victim to communicate and give their evidence in court with a view to securing a prosecution.

Defence witnesses are also entitled to use intermediaries.

"In practical terms the judge and the intermediary and the advocates will have to agree as to how the intermediary becomes involved," explained Kate.

"For example, an issue may be that certain victims will not understand questions if they're presented in a certain way.

"So if they're asked in that way they will have to have an agreed way on how the intermediary will get involved.

"They're not there to answer questions for the witness, or to shape their answers.

"They're there to say That's not a question that the witness will understand, perhaps you could phrase it like this'."

The scheme went live in court from April 31.

Referrals so far have included a child suffering from autism, an adult with learning disabilities and another adult with a brain injury.

The scheme is being welcomed by people with communication difficulties.

"It will help us be confident and support us," said Amanda Frost, who is a member of the management board for Bournemouth People First, a charity run for and by people with learning difficulties.

Amanda, who is also co-chairman of the Learning Disability Partnership Board, added: "We all want the right to feel safe and able to report crime.

"We feel that it will give us more confidence in the justice system, make sure our voices are heard and acted upon and to know we can feel safe and part of our community and that we've got the same rights as other people."

Kate is also confident the intermediary scheme will be a success.

"It's very new, but it's giving access to justice to people who, because of difficulties in communicating, haven't had access to justice before," she said.

"The reality is that people often prey on those victims because they're easy targets.

"They presume they will not be able to tell anybody in a fluent way what's happened to them.

"The idea of the intermediary stops that being a reality.

"If there isn't justice for everyone it's not justice at all."