Alison Saunders

CPS London is headed by Chief Crown Prosecutor Alison Saunders.

A barrister who has prosecuted some of the country's most infamous criminals Alison Saunders joined the CPS in 1986, the year it was formed.

She was appointed London's Chief Crown Prosecutor after heading the CPS Organised Crime Division which deals with the most serious offences, including human trafficking, immigration, drugs-running, counterfeiting and money laundering, and confiscation of criminals' assets.

Alison spent her early CPS career prosecuting in what was then known as CPS London South and then moved to the CPS Policy Directorate in 1991 where she developed an expertise in issues involving child victims and witnesses. Appointed Branch Crown Prosecutor for Wood Green in 1997, she was promoted to Assistant Chief Crown Prosecutor.

Her role in the prosecution of 'Railway Rapist' David Mulcahy - convicted of a spate of sex attacks and murders during the 1980s - was highlighted in a TV documentary in 2001. That year Alison became Chief Crown Prosecutor Sussex, and in 2003 she served as Deputy Legal Advisor to the Attorney General before rejoining the CPS two years later as Head of the Organised Crime Division.

Alison is supported by Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutors (DCCP) Grace Ononiwu, Jenny Hopkins and David Robinson, and Business Manager Jean Ashton.

Grace Ononiwu OBE

Grace qualified as a Solicitor in 1990.  She originally joined a private firm of solicitors in High Wycombe practising criminal law but joined the CPS in 1990 as a Crown Prosecutor. She has held a number of positions in the CPS, which led to her ultimate appointment as Northamptonshire CCP in April 2005 making her the first African Caribbean to be appointed to that position in the history of the CPS.

Grace has made significant contribution to the CPS Equality and Diversity agenda and was Chair of the National Black Crown Prosecutors Association. Grace took up the post of the Chair of the Local Criminal Justice Board (LCJB) in Northamptonshire in June 2008. In April 2009 Grace was appointed Legal Director for North Region, London and she is now DCCP for the London Districts.

Jenny Hopkins

Jenny Hopkins is Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor with responsibility for the Complex Casework Unit. This comprises of the Special Casework Team (which includes the Police Complaints Team), the Homicide Team, and the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Team.

 

David Robinson

David was called to the Bar in 1993 before joining the CPS as a pupil barrister. He prosecuted the full range of criminal casework in a wide variety of practitioner and managerial positions before being appointed as temporary Chief Crown Prosecutor of Warwickshire in 2008.

In 2009 he was appointed as Chief Crown Prosecutor for Hertfordshire. Following the London disorder of August 2011 he was seconded to CPS London as a Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor to lead the Special Operations Unit responsible for conducting the many prosecutions arising from those events.

Jean Ashton OBE

Jean has worked for the CPS since 1986, transferring over from the West Yorkshire County Prosecuting Solicitors' Department. She moved to the service in London in October 2009 and is responsible with Alison Saunders, for the overall delivery of the prosecution service in London.

Jean is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. In 1986 she transferred to the CPS in West Yorkshire and held a number of positions before being made Area Business Manager in 2001. She moved to Greater Manchester as Area Business Manager in 2006.