CPS names World Cup prosecution squad
01/06/2006
The Crown Prosecution Service has announced its World Cup team of prosecutors. Their task is to collect evidence to ensure any English fans who cause trouble in Germany next month will receive Football Banning Orders when they return home.
Five Chief Crown Prosecutors will take it in turns at each of the venues to head up a team of four prosecutors who will be in Germany for as long as the England team are - up to a month if England reaches the final. One member of the CPS team is a lawyer who speaks German and has practised in both England and Germany.
The CPS lead on football issues, Nick Hawkins, said: "The CPS is determined to ensure anyone who acts to damage the excellent reputation of England fans or to spoil the enjoyment for everyone will be banned from football. We will be working closely with the German police, as we already do with English and Welsh police, to ensure that those who do commit offences in Germany will face the full force of the law back here in England and Wales."
The CPS has four prosecutors in Germany for the duration of England's involvement in the tournament: Bethan David, Edmund Hall, Andrew Holt and Charles Kuhn. The five Chief Crown Prosecutors - Nick Hawkins, Portia Ragnauth, David Blundell, Simon Clements and Bob Marshall - will spend a week in Germany managing the prosecution team.
In the UK, CPS prosecutor Merenda Beckley will ensure that all available UK intelligence is linked with the relevant prosecution papers prepared in Germany. CCP Neil Franklin will be responsible for coordinating CPS activity in England and Wales, including dealing with any troublemakers returning from Germany, as well as sorting out any domestic disorder.
Details on each of the CPS prosecutors are below:
In Germany
Prosecutors
- Bethan David, Thames Valley
- Edmund Hall, London
- Andrew Holt, Greater Manchester
- Charles Kuhn, London
Bethan is an experienced prosecutor in Berkshire's Crown Court Unit and has been with the CPS for four years. She is a Higher Court Advocate and has handled several cases involving football disorder.
Ed is the CPS London ASBO specialist and lead on football matters. He has extensive experience, particularly at Highbury, and in August 2005 led a Metropolitan Police training event on dealing with football related disorder.
Andrew's extensive experience includes handling the prosecutions which followed disorder in Manchester: 41 people were prosecuted after England played Wales in a World Cup qualifier in 2004. He has a Masters degree in Sport and the Law and lectures on the subject.
Charles not only is bilingual, but holds a German legal qualification and has dealt with football cases in Germany too. His knowledge of how to bridge the differences between German and UK law is indispensable.
Chief Crown Prosecutors (CCPs)
- In Frankfurt - Nick Hawkins, Hampshire & Isle of Wight CCP
- In Nuremberg - Portia Ragnauth, Durham CCP
- In Cologne - David Blundell, West Midlands CCP
- Munich/Stuttgart (first knockout round) and Quarter final - Simon Clements, London South Sector Director
- Semi-finals and final - Bob Marshall, Lancashire CCP
Nick is the CPS lead on football matters. His handling of prosecutions following the Portsmouth v Southampton derby match in 2004 set a standard for dealing with large violent incidents when 98 fans received Football Banning Orders as a result.
Portia has already been abroad with the CPS - she travelled to New York to visit specialist courts and see how case files were put together in America. She brought the ideas back to England and set up South London's first specialist domestic violence court before being appointed CCP in Durham.
David has overseen the application for Banning Orders in the West Midlands where currently 290 people have received orders - the largest number in any part of the country. David is keen to use his experience in the West Midlands where a close working relationship with the police has given protection for the overwhelming majority of football fans who want a safe environment.
Simon has personally dealt with and supervised the prosecution of numerous football-related offences over the last 20 years. In the late 1980s he was the CPS policy lead in negotiations with ACPO about the introduction of CCTV into football grounds and its potential use in the detection and prosecution of criminal cases.
Bob has been with the CPS since 1986 and held senior posts in West Yorkshire and Humberside before moving to Lancashire in 2004. He has also been involved in setting up CPS Direct which gives police officers 24/7 access to advice from prosecutors. Bob has dealt with a number of cases involving football related violence and has trained prosecutors in the law relating to banning orders.
In England
- Prosecutor - Merenda Beckley, Hampshire & Isle of Wight
- Chief Crown Prosecutor - Neil Franklin, West Yorkshire CCP
Merenda will be working with the UK Football Policing Unit in England to ensure that all available intelligence in the UK is married up with files prepared in Germany to maximise the prospect of successfully getting a Football Banning Order. She has worked closely on information sharing with the police before and received a police commendation for her handling of prosecutions following violence between Aldershot and Carlisle in 2004, when nine people were prosecuted and all received Football Banning Orders.
Neil has been prosecuting since 1979. After holding senior roles in Wakefield, Sheffield and Humberside CPS he was appointed as the Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Severn/Thames in February 1996, before moving to West Yorkshire in 1999. He will act as the focal point in the UK during the tournament, ensuring each CPS Area has adequate processes in place to deal with offenders returning from Germany. Neil will coordinate our response, alongside the police, in the event of any significant incident.
Notes to Editors
- There will be three pairings of an experienced police sergeant and a Senior Crown Prosecutor, both of whom will be well-versed in football culture and law. Each of these pairings will be fully self-contained with a people carrier equipped with Wi-Fi laptop, printer and scanner, as well as law books.
- The CPS can make applications for banning orders on conviction under section 14A of the Football Spectators Act 1989. The Attorney General has also assigned the CPS the power to conduct proceedings under section 14B - these are civil applications in the magistrates' court. Section 14B allows a football banning order to be issued where no criminal conviction in the UK has preceded it.
- For further details and interview requests contact CPS Press Office on 020 7710 6088 or 020 7796 8079.
The teams will have access to German police stations and courts, and will be able to obtain copies of German police and court records which will be transmitted back to the United Kingdom Football Policing Unit. There will be a resident CPS lawyer at this location to co-ordinate the CPS response and deliver details to the local areas. This will mean that the police and CPS can make immediate applications for FBOs on the return to England of those convicted or cautioned for offences in Germany.
