Successes of the Month October 2011

Contents

• Jayne Salt, Karen Green and Sara Pratt's work used as model for similar cases
• Heath Westerman and Gina Brown - Nine defendants, 10 police services, 66 case files
• Catherine Edwards' co-ordination and dedication help to snare burglar who targeted elderly people
• Peter Grieves-Smith, Jayne Salt and Kathryn Greenwood - Robin Ligus convicted of two historic murders
• Honourable mentions: more examples of outstanding work

Jayne Salt, Karen Green and Sara Pratt (in-house trial junior), Complex Casework unit, West Midlands

Prosecutors' work to smash drugs ring used as model for similar cases

Seven members of an organised crime group based in Wolverhampton involved in large scale supply of heroin and cocaine to Aberdeen between 2002 and 2009 were convicted as a result of relatively untested legislation under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA).

By using vital information given under SOCPA and matching it with previously unused circumstantial evidence gathered by another police service, a case was built against a further eight members of the group, including two of the leaders. Significantly, none were ever caught in possession of drugs but seven, including two ring leaders, eventually pleaded guilty and received prison sentences of between two and 11 years.

Jayne Salt, Head of the West Midlands Complex Casework Unit, said: "The satisfaction in this case was being able to prosecute gang members who were well known to the police as being involved during a previous prosecution but against whom there was then insufficient evidence.

"When we embarked on the case, the Police had no previous experience of the SOCPA process, but based on this success, they have set up a specialist unit which uses it as a model in the hope of building similar cases in future. What's more, both WMP and I have been contacted by colleagues in other Areas for advice on how to take similar cases forward."

Senior Crown Prosecutor Heath Westerman and Caseworker Gina Brown, West Midlands

Nine defendants, 10 police services, 66 case files: One Prosecutor, one Caseworker

This was a large and complex conspiracy involving a ruthless team of nine drug addicts who stole from motorway service stations and public houses. The gang committed crimes across the country, from Sheffield to London and North Wales to Cambridge, stealing more than £100,000 and demonstrating a serious danger to the public, involving both threats and dangerous driving to escape capture at the scene.

Heath Westerman worked closely with 10 police forces to draw together the complex evidence from each of the areas. These amounted to the equivalent of 66 separate case files. There were, in total, 310 witness statements and 388 exhibits in the trial bundle, amounting to 4,654 pages.

Heath provided ongoing investigative advice followed by charging decisions and prepared the case for trial, working closely with Gina Brown, a very experienced case worker. In total, he spent over 120 hours on this case while also handling other complex matters.

All of the defendants pleaded guilty on the trial date because such an unassailable prosecution case had been built.

Colin Molloy, Senior District Crown Prosecutor, said: "Heath raised the bar in the preparation and control of this case, performing beyond the call of duty."

Heath Westerman received a commendation from the police and Judge Waite. Mike Cunningham, Chief Constable of Staffordshire, went further and presented Heath with a certificate of commendation.

Duty Prosecutor Catherine Edwards, CPS Direct

Co-ordination and dedication help to snare burglar who targeted elderly people

Catherine, from CPS Direct, the national out-of-hours charging service, provided police officers from several different forces with co-ordinated advice over one weekend to bring criminal charges against a burglar who targeted elderly people.

Miley Cash, 37, stole more than £1,000 from older people in their own homes in distraction burglaries, striking three times in the space of just over a month. One incident involved an 83-year-old woman; Cash offered to clean and fix her guttering for £20, but took £600 from a wallet.

Catherine Edwards took responsibility for discussing all three cases with police officers following Cash's arrest in March; she authorised charges on first two offences on consecutive weekend days. When Cash was transported to Surrey for interview, Catherine ensured continuity in the case by making her previous advices available to colleagues.

Cash received a five-year sentence on 20 July 2011.

CPS Direct Chief Crown Prosecutor Peter Swain said: "I'm very pleased that CPS Direct was able to support local colleagues in bringing this offender to justice, working with the police from a number of forces to co-ordinate the charges demonstrates the strength and the flexibility of CPS Direct.

"I'm proud of Catherine for volunteering to work with the officers over a number of days to ensure they received consistent pre-charge advice for each of these cases and that the advice was so thorough that Cash had no alternative but to plead guilty. Catherine also identified the potential to take the proceeds of his offending from Cash and a confiscation order was made upon conviction." 

Principal Crown Advocate Peter Grieves-Smith, CCU Head Jayne Salt and Paralegal Officer Kathryn Greenwood, West Midlands

Robin Ligus - convicted after trial of two historic murders

The case involved three 1994 murders in the Shrewsbury area, one of which had similarities to another, also committed in 1994, for which Robert Ligus was already serving life imprisonment.

Following a review in 2000, the police requested a further review at the end of 2009, in light of new expert evidence which showed previously undetected injuries which were consistent with serial cell confessions Ligus had made, which had previously been considered unreliable.

The case was built by piecing together evidence to link Ligus to people, locations and patterns of behaviour and which involved extensive use of circumstantial, 'bad character' and confession evidence.

There were many problems with the case - the police had received a lot of information leading them down false trails and there was a further false report that gave rise to a prosecution for perverting the course of justice. Two of the deaths were not originally treated as suspicious, which meant a complete review of all the forensic evidence. Material disclosed to the defence ran to many thousands of pages.

Peter Grieves-Smith was involved in the case from the outset and provided pre-charge advice. He then worked closely with James Curtis QC in the presentation of the case over an eight-week trial after the defendant had been found unfit to plead. Ligus was found guilty of two murders and acquitted of a third and has recently been sentenced to a hospital order with restrictions.

Jayne Salt, reviewing lawyer in the case, said: "I must pay tribute to the rest of the prosecution team who had the vision and dedication to make a success of this case - it was not for the faint hearted!"

Honourable mentions

Response to the disturbances

Firstly, mention must be made of the teams - across the country - who have been working tirelessly to bring those involved in the unrest over the summer to justice. Staff have dealt with hundreds of cases, on many occasions working through the night in order to deal with them as they came in. For example, In Manchester, four prosecutors volunteered to prosecute three courts overnight, dealing with 72 cases... and were seen as normal at their desks the next day. All these staff, including those who stepped in to take up the slack, deserve thanks for their invaluable contributions.

Julia Burt, Paralegal Assistant, CPS Wales/Cymru

Julia Burt is commended on her work on R v Maguire for her excellent handling of a particularly challenging case involving a potential pool of some 75 witnesses. Julia picked this case up at only two days' notice, and had no advance knowledge of this complex VAT fraud. She had to deal with witness attendance times changing at the last minute and liaised closely with counsel so they were all appropriately warned.

Una Mitchell, Paralegal Officer, CPS South West

Following a three week murder trial, Mariusz Trybus was sentenced to life imprisonment at Bristol Crown Court on Friday 9 September, with judicial direction that he should serve a minimum of 15 years.

Adam Vaitilingam QC, who represented the prosecution in court, said: "I would like to express my thanks to Una for the excellent job she has done on this difficult and complicated murder case since it came to trial. Una came in at short notice and has really pulled out all the stops to get jury bundles and Notices of Additional Evidence finalised in good time."

Lynn Harvey, Crown Advocate, CPS Eastern

Lynn works part-time, but expended 'an inordinate amount' of her own time in pursuing the case of Cosford, in which the defendant had stolen £63,000 from her elderly neighbour. The neighbour had trusted her with his financial affairs, as he was too frail to do it for himself. Lynn refused to drop the case, despite the defendant attempting suicide, but handled it extremely sensitively, working with the police out-of hours and liaising with the hospital. She charged the neighbour with fraud when it was appropriate and secured a conviction and a 16-month sentence.