CPS News Brief

CPS facts on disorders

CPS facts on national disorders 

11 August

• Prosecutors throughout the CPS have shown true professionalism and in addition to their working day have done shifts in courts which have stayed open all night.

 

• Three prosecutors shared shifts at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court from 11pm (on the 10th) till 5am. In addition, 59 cases were dealt with this morning between 5am and 9am.

 

• Two prosecutors shared shifts and worked overnight until 6am at Solihull Magistrates’ Court after which, they carried on this morning with their normal day work.

 

• Four prosecutors worked all night at Manchester City Magistrates' Court.

The CPS London day time charging centre has provided since August 10 an enhanced service to the police in response to the exceptional circumstances. Of calls to the centre, above 93 per cent have been answered in less than ten seconds. In normal circumstances, the agreed service level with the police is that 75 per cent of all calls are answered within 180 seconds.

Between 5pm yesterday and 9am this morning, our out-of hours charging service, CPS Direct, dealt with 97 disorder related cases across the country.

10 August

10 CPS prosecutors presented 64 cases in Camberwell Green and Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Courts until the early hours of the morning. This included very senior lawyers such as the Chief Crown Prosecutor for London, Alison Saunders, who prosecuted cases from 4am at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court.

Between 5pm on the 9th August and 9am on the 10th, CPS Direct, dealt with 105 disorder related cases across the country. The majority of these cases were from the Metropolitan Police. This represents more than 30 per cent of the workload for CPS Direct for the night.

CPS London responds to public disorder

Alison Saunders, Chief Crown Prosecutor for London, said:

“CPS London is doing all it can to ensure the successful prosecution of the individuals responsible and the future safety of Londoners.

“We have put in place a number of measures to ensure that the individuals committing these crimes are brought to justice swiftly and effectively.

“We are working closely with the police and have a team of prosecutors available to provide charging decisions 24/7 as quickly as possible. To take forward the prosecution of those responsible, we have set up a dedicated team.

“CPS London is also deploying prosecutors to police operational sites in London to provide on the spot charging advice to officers. We are working closely with the Courts Service to coordinate and expedite cases arising from the disorder, and have established designated magistrates’ courts to deal with them.”

Investigation into Jersey Police will not be considered by CPS

A story yesterday in the Sunday Mirror said that seven members of Jersey Police are being questioned over allegations of perverting the course of justice. The Sunday Mirror story says the CPS will decide if they should face trial. This is not correct.

The CPS only has jurisdiction over cases in England and Wales; it has no responsibility for advising or prosecuting cases on Jersey.

The Hampshire Police investigation report will be passed to the Law Officers’ Department of the Attorney General of Jersey who will decide what, if any, action should be taken.

-CPS Diary- Week of 8 August

• The jury is expected to go out this week in the case of Fiona Donnison currently on trial at Lewes Crown Court. She is charged with murdering her children after their bodies were found in a car boot in East Sussex in January 2010.

Monday 8 August

• Ched Evans and Clayton McDonald, first appearance at Prestatyn Magistrates’ Court charged with rape. Ched Evans is a Welsh international footballer playing for Sheffield United.

Wednesday 10 August

• The District Judge at Belmarsh Magistrates’ Court will give a ruling on Shrien Dewani’s extradition. He is facing extradition to South Africa where he is suspected of murdering his wife.

Company director to face manslaughter charge for death of Meg Burgess

We have decided that George Collier should be charged with gross negligence manslaughter in relation to the death of Meg Burgess on 26 July 2008 in Prestatyn, Wales.

Meg Burgess, aged three, was killed when a wall designed by Mr Collier and constructed by his company, Parcol Developments Limited, collapsed on to a public footpath in Ffordd Penrhwyfla.

Rosemary Ainslie, reviewing lawyer for the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said:

“I have carefully reviewed all of the evidence gathered by North Wales Police and the Health and Safety Executive during their thorough investigation into the tragic death of Meg Burgess in July 2008.

“After considering reports from experts on construction standards and advice from counsel, I have decided that George Collier should be charged with gross negligence manslaughter for his role in designing and constructing the wall that collapsed. Mr Collier has been summonsed to appear at Prestatyn Magistrates’ Court on 3 October 2011.

“I have also decided that Parcol Developments Limited, of which Mr Collier was a director, should be charged with an offence under Section 3 of the Health and Safety Act at Work 1974. Section 3 requires all employers to conduct their business in a way that ensures, so far as is reasonably practicable, that others are not exposed to risk.

“I did consider whether Parcol Developments should also be charged with corporate manslaughter. There is sufficient evidence to prosecute the company for this offence, but it would not be in the public interest to do so. The company had only two directors and Mr Collier was the only one directly involved in this incident. The charge against him is sufficiently serious to address the alleged offending.”

Senior Investigating Officer Mark Abbott of North Wales Police said:

“The family have been kept fully updated throughout the investigation and they have been informed of this decision.

“This remains a difficult time for the family and they request that their privacy is respected.”

Letter to the Independent concerning Ratcliffe on Soar cases

A recent report in the Independent claimed that the Court of Appeal had found the CPS deliberately withheld evidence about an undercover officer in the Ratcliffe on Soar power station cases.

This is not correct. Mike Kennedy, Chief Operating Officer for the CPS, has written to the Independent:

"While we recognise that evidence was not disclosed to the defence in the Ratcliffe on Soar cases as it should have been, the Court of Appeal did not rule that this was a deliberate act by the Crown Prosecution Service.

"The Appeal Court specifically declined to rule on the actual circumstances of the non disclosure, in view of the number of ongoing inquiries into the issues and police and CPS actions in the case."

DPP celebrates the best of the CPS

We are now celebrating the CPS's best work every month. Keir Starmer QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, says:

"I want the public to know about some of the really excellent work that our lawyers, caseworkers and other staff do on a daily basis.

"So we are now publishing, each month, a few examples of projects or cases where work by individuals should be celebrated. To that end, we have created a 'Successes of the Month' section on the website.

"I am proud of the fantastic work that our staff carry out up and down the country and I hope you take some time out to read the first 'Successes of the Month'."

One of this month's successes was the creation of a spreadsheet that accurately calculates custody time limits (CTL). Keeping track of a CTL is essential for protecting the public as an exceeded limit can, in some circumstances, lead to an individual being released from custody before their trial. Since the 1980s, staff have relied on their fingers and calendars to calculate the CTL expiry date, which carries with it the normal human error risks.

Anthony Madison, a CPS performance management analyst, has created an extremely clever and useful Microsoft Excel tool to calculate difficult CTL expiry dates, which has been very warmly received across the CPS.

Having designed this calculator, Anthony then developed his own CTL calculator app for his personal smartphone. He is now developing the app for other platforms.

Read more Successes of the Month.