Tackling Human Trafficking - CPS South Yorkshire Prosecutor Attends International Conference

26/05/2006

Tackling Human Trafficking is the reason CPS South Yorkshire Prosecutor, Chris Jackson, has just returned from Lithuania. Chris was one of a team of Criminal Justice Representatives who travelled to Vilnius to meet with Lithuanian colleagues.

Chris Jackson has been the CPS lawyer involved in the three recent successful human trafficking cases in Sheffield where defendants are now serving long prison sentences. 

Commenting on his involvement in the conference, Jackson says:  I was extremely pleased to be invited as it has given me a chance to meet my counterparts in Lithuania, in particular Siauliai where all our South Yorkshire cases have come from.  I now have named contacts that I have met, and with whom I can liaise if the need arises in the future.

We used the conference as an opportunity to look at previous cases and discuss how we can share best practice and ensure that effective prosecutions are gained in relation to human trafficking in both the UK and Lithuania.

I am also pleased to say that thanks to this conference I now have a better appreciation of recent developments in Lithuania and a clearer understanding of how we can develop better mutual arrangements regarding gathering evidence and sharing intelligence.

The two day conference was arranged by the Foreign Commonwealth Office and attended by both police and prosecutors from the UK and Lithuania.  In addition, to being the first time a conference of this nature has been held it is also the first time that Lithuanian police from the regions have come together to discuss Human Trafficking.

Judith Walker, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS South Yorkshire adds: Human Trafficking is an appalling crime.  South Yorkshire has a proven track record of achieving convictions and this sends out a tough message to those criminals who seek to profit from this abhorrent trade.