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The Crown Prosecution Service is the government department responsible for prosecuting criminal cases investigated by the police in England and Wales.

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Home » News Centre » Successes of the month » Successes of the Month - September 2011

CPS Successes of the Month September 2011

Contents

Christine Athanasius and Salome Vijayenran, CPS London

Diligence and dedication help to smash a human trafficking ring

This was the first successful prosecution for trafficking females out of the UK. It was also the first time that victims previously subjected to Juju magic rituals before being made victims of international human trafficking have given evidence about these offences and a conviction secured.

The defendant, Anthony Harrison, held a senior position in an organised and well supported criminal network that systematically trafficked young women into the UK for sexual exploitation. As a result of this investigation and prosecution, the UK Border Agency has seen a clear halt to the trafficking of African girls and women into the UK.

This was a complex case, further complicated by the fact that the girls had been subjected to Juju magic rituals and believed that they would die if they disobeyed their captors or sought help. Christine enlisted the expertise of a West African anthropologist with a specific interest in Nigeria and witchcraft practices. Evidence given by this witness enabled the jury to better understand the circumstances of the case and why the victims' evidence had been piecemeal and, on the face of it, inconsistent. Harrison was sentenced to 20 years.

District Crown Prosecutor Lisa Brown said: "This investigation was one arm of what had been an international investigation into people trafficking from Africa. The case was complex and involved and the thorough case management and strategic trial analysis lead to a successful prosecution and an excellent sentence for which Christine and Salome deserve full credit."

David Bell, Senior Crown Prosecutor, CPS West Midlands

Assisting the police in reducing town-centre violence

David Bell, who is based in Stafford, has been advising and contributing to police licensing work. This has resulted in a number of successful cases against premises having no door supervisors and one which had no CCTV and no licence holder present which resulted in a fine of £1575. The police have thanked David for all his support and say that as a result of this proactive work there has been a reduction of 19 per cent in town centre violence in Staffordshire.

David says: "I took over the local licensing lead in South Staffs about a year ago. I met up with Inspector Ashley Farrington and his colleague, PC Williams, when I started and we all agreed that it was important to pursue breaches of the licensing legislation vigorously, in order to send a message out to the local licensees and to the breweries and operators that consequences will ensue. The message does indeed seem to be getting across."

David gives the pre-charge advice as well as handling as many of the cases in court as he can. He had also been able to use his knowledge of past cases in one case (mentioned above) to illustrate the implications of having no CCTV.

"CCTV footage could have been crucial to quite a nasty glassing injury case which had happened previously at a particular premises," he says. "I was able to use that case as an example of how important the breach was it came to sentencing the licensee."

Claire Wetton and Karen Green (Complex Casework Unit), Jason Corden-Bowen (Associate Prosecutor), CPS West Midlands

A full house of drugs convictions

A West Midlands Police undercover operation targeting drug dealers in Walsall town centre resulted in twenty defendants being charged.

Claire and Karen worked together with the police to prepare the case file as fully as possible prior to charge and which resulted in eleven of the defendants entering guilty pleas at a very early stage in April this year. The remaining nine defendants entered guilty pleas at the plea and case management hearing (PCMH) later in the month, saving both time and resources for both the courts and the CPS

The Judge thanked CPS in-house Counsel, Emma Cutts, for her assistance in how the case was presented to him.

Claire said: "The successful outcome of the case was due to the co-operation between the police and CPS before charge, which meant that a full file could be served at the Magistrates' Court. The minimal number of court hearings was due to the teamwork between the police and the prosecution team."

Despite its complexity and volume, the case was dealt with professionally and efficiently by Associate Prosecutor Jason Corden-Bowen. Although Claire and Karen from the CCU prepared the papers, Jason dealt with all twenty remands at court over a period of two weeks and personally moved the cases into his court to ensure consistency.

Jason said: "Without exaggeration the papers provided to me for each hearing were the best prepared files I have ever seen."

When the final sentences were passed at the end of August 2011, Jason received personal thanks from the CCU and investigative Detective Chief Inspector. They said his work at court contributed invaluably to the smooth running of the operation.

Michael Mulkerrins, International Division

Prosecuting pirates and developing justice in the Seychelles

Michael, Advocacy Assessor for London, has been seconded as a prosecutor to the Attorney General's Office in the Seychelles since January 2011 as part of the UK Governments wider counter-piracy programme in the region, funded by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime counter-piracy programme.

Since he took up his posting he has successfully prosecuted a number of piracy and murder cases. Most recently he prosecuted six defendants in a piracy case, where seven pirates unlawfully took control of a fishing vessel, the Gloria, armed with guns. All defendants were found guilty and received a total of 24 years' imprisonment.

At Michael's request, the Judge made an order that the saleable items seized from the pirates be auctioned off and the proceeds be divided amongst the Seychellois fishermen who were pirated. This order is the first of its kind in piracy cases and hopefully will set a precedent; judging by the quantity of fuel and the good condition of two Yamaha engines seized, each fisherman is likely to get in the region of approximately US$1000, a significant amount of money in regional terms.

Michael has also identified and developed methods to modernise and improve current judicial practices and procedures, including his innovative and imaginative approach in this recent case to witness care which is underdeveloped in the Seychelles, with no proper procedures and systems yet in place.

Sara Walker and Kristy Novakovic, CPS Eastern

100 per cent conviction rate against 67 defendants sees burglaries fall by 49 per cent in Cambridge

Sara and Kristy advised police involved in an undercover operation in which they set up a fake bike shop in Cambridge, to which stolen property was then brought. What started as low level bike theft and offers for sale to two undercover officers evolved to the sale of motorcycles and property from house burglaries.

Sara, the Crown Advocate in the case, was involved from the beginning in giving advice to the police to ensure the integrity of future evidence. After six months the enforcement phase began which resulted in 67 arrests. Sara dealt with all 67, prosecuting 62 for offences from handling and converting stolen property to a 15-defendant conspiracy to burgle case.

Sara was assisted with the Crown Court cases by Kristy, a paralegal officer. The last case was concluded at Cambridge Crown Court recently, with a 100 per cent conviction rate being achieved, and 47 years imprisonment and 1270 hours community work being sentenced in total. The operation has also led to a 49 per cent drop in burglaries in Cambridge since it concluded.

Kristy said: "I was in regular contact with the police and Counsel to take care of outstanding issues from an early stage, which led to a high proportion of early guilty pleas.

"After the paperwork nightmares, mountains of photocopying and walls of boxes around our desks, a 100 per cent conviction rate and 49 per cent drop in burglaries remind us why we do it!"

CPS Yorkshire and Humberside Fees Unit

Improving performance and efficiency

The CPS Yorkshire and Humberside Fees Unit was established in April 2011 to improve the way we deal with the payment of fees to external counsel. The set-up of the Unit and its processes were devised by Louise Hubbard (who now manages the Unit) and is based in our Sheffield office.

In its first four months of running, the Unit has significantly improved the way it works. Fee claims processed within five days of receipt have tripled from 19 per cent to 60 per cent. The Unit has also worked closely with the District Business Managers with the result that the number of queries on information received has reduced by over 50 per cent. All this hard work has not gone unnoticed - in fact several Chambers have commented favourably on more efficient processing of payments since the Unit was set up.

The Unit is now preparing for the introduction of full electronic fees payment (P2P) as their next challenge. This forms part of 'Digital CJS', the nationwide project to move towards full digital working across the whole of the criminal justice system.

Martin Goldman, CCP for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside said: "I know there was a steep learning curve for Louise and her team, but the excellent results achieved already speak for themselves. Its a tremendous example of how we can improve efficiency and effectiveness and make best use of current technology despite the resource challenges we face. Well done!".

Honourable mentions

We had so many nominations this month that it was a really tough job to narrow it down. So here are a few more Honourable Mentions:

Tina Whybrow, Crown Advocate, Counter Terrorism and Special Crime Division, worked on the extradition of Shrien Diwani, requested by the South African authorities in relation to the murder of his wife. As with all extradition cases, the CPS here represented the foreign authority that is requesting extradition. This was a complex and difficult case, but Tina handled it so well that she received a personal note of thanks from the DPP in South Africa.

Paul Scothern, Crown Advocate, Eastern Area, prosecuted a case where the defendant, having served several years for aggravated burglary, returned soon after his release to target the same victim for the third time in five years. The victim thought that he was going to die, such was the viciousness of the attack. Paul, in presenting the case to the Judge, helped to persuade him that a life sentence would be appropriate.

Rob Hutchinson (lawyer) and Charlotte Marlow (Paralegal Officer), CPS London, for their work in successfully prosecuting gang-related armed robberies in North London. Among many other aspects, Robs contribution included comparing CCTV with a video posted on YouTube by the gang concerned. He advised the police to hold an identity parade, which resulted in a third suspect being arrested.

Carl May-Smith, lawyer, CPS London, for his close working alongside Hackney Police's proactive drugs and firearms squad, Hackney Council's CCTV unit, Dalston's Safer Neighbourhoods policing team and the Met's Territorial Support Group, dog unit and air support team. His work helped to secure the arrest of 20 people on a variety of charges and the seizure of a large quantity of Class A drugs.

Kingsley Hyland, Head of the Complex Casework Unit in the North East, assisted by Paralegal Officer Sandra Gibson, dealt with a double jeopardy case that used DNA evidence in an historic case where the defendant had raped his grandmother. This required the original verdict to be quashed and then complex negotiations with the Irish courts in order to secure the return of the defendant to the UK.

Dan Suter, lawyer with the Organised Crime Division, has been seconded to the Eastern Caribbean since July 2010 as the CPS Criminal Justice Advisor as part of the CPS International Divisions capacity building programme for the region. As part of this on-going programme of criminal justice reform he drafted a Code for Prosecutors for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and, following an intensive consultation period, this has been adopted. This has generated a surge of interest in CJS reform in the region.

Since January this year, the CPS South East Complex Casework Team has obtained just over £930,000 in confiscated assets. The diligence of Administrative Officer Katie Samways, who is a point of contact for Proceeds Of Crime Act cases, deserves a special mention. She supports the lawyers within the team and provides continuity for both defence and police. Her dedication underpins the work of the Unit and is recognised by other agencies too, including Kent Police Fraud Investigation Unit.

Reviewing Lawyer and Junior Counsel Colin Meeke and Caseworker Peter Lewis, Wessex Area, dealt with an enormously complicated case of a multiple rapist, with Colin advising the police regarding the charge after a huge amount of work, then acting as junior counsel in the trial itself.

Janette Knagg, Senior Crown Prosecutor, West Midlands Northern Sector, for prosecuting a case in which the 13 year old victim, who has severe ADHD, was repeatedly hit around the head with an iron bar. Support for the victim was arranged in the form of an intermediary to help them give evidence in court, along with a court visit and an arrangement for breaks in the evidence. The defendant was convicted.

Dave Bennett, Crown Advocate, West Midlands: The defendant was convicted of possessing a firearm with intent in June and appealed his conviction. Dave cancelled his leave in order to cover the appeal in the Court of Appeal and won the case.

Wendy Bounds (District Crown Prosecutor) and Shenaz Muzaffer (Crown Advocate), West Midlands, worked on a very complex case in which the defendant, a nursery worker, had been coercing girls into sexual activity on social networking sites and abusing at least one very young child in his care. Their great team working with the police ensured that all the appropriate evidence was properly served in time to ensure the appropriate convictions.

Sati Ruck (Crown Advocate), West Midlands Northern Sector in prosecuting a case against a man who had infected his victim with HIV, Sati researched the law and discovered that there had previously been problems in enforcing Sexual Offences Prevention Orders in similar cases. Instead, an ASBO was issued, preventing the defendant having any sexual relationship without informing the person of his HIV status

Julie McSorley (Senior Crown Prosecutor) and Paulette Lewis (Paralegal Officer), West Midlands, worked on a case where the defendant had been found guilty of sexual touching of his niece and sentenced to nine months. Counsel's advice was sought on the sentence. The Area disagreed with Counsels advice that the sentence, while lenient, was not unduly lenient, and referred the case to the Attorney General's Office (AGO). AGO agreed and the sentence was increased on appeal to 30 months.