The Cymru-Wales Management Team

CPS Cymru-Wales is one of 13 CPS areas that cover England and Wales.

The Area is headed by a Chief Crown Prosecutor (CCP), Ed Beltrami, whose responsibilities include: carrying out prosecutions; setting and maintaining professional and ethical standards; representing the CPS locally; contributing to national policy and strategy; and ensuring effective employee relations.

The CCP is supported by a team of senior managers with expertise in legal and business management issues.

On the legal side, support is provided by a Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, Siobhan Blake, as well as a Head of Complex Casework, Catrin Evans.

On the business management side, support is led by Area Business Manager Mike Grist, assisted by three Business Change and Delivery Managers; Wray Ferguson, Helen Phillips and Jeff Thomas.

 

Ed Beltrami

Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Cymru-Wales

 

With over 20 years service within the CPS, Ed is a highly experienced prosecutor and manager. His Deputy CCP role covers the North and West of Wales.

Ed joined the CPS in 1988, working in the Juvenile Branch at CPS London.  In 1990 he became a Senior Crown Prosecutor and, in 1992, a Principal Crown Prosecutor.

In 1996 and 1997, Ed was Acting Branch Crown Prosecutor for the Thames/Marlborough Street Branch of CPS London.  In 2001, he was appointed Head of the Trials Unit at CPS Thames Valley and in 2003, acted as CCP for the same Area. 
Ed was appointed as CCP for CPS North Wales in 2004 and stayed in that role until 2010, when  he took up CCP and Deputy CCP positions in the West Midlands.

Ed returned to Wales in 2011 to take on a Deputy CCP role in the newly-created CPS Cymru-Wales Area. He was appointed Chief Crown Prosecutor in December 2012.

 

 

Catrin Evans

Head of Cymru-Wales Complex Casework Unit

 

Catrin has worked in the CPS for 25 years and is an experienced prosecutor, advocate and manager. She is a fluent Welsh speaker and has conducted a number of trials in the Welsh Language.

Having worked as a prosecutor advocate in Haverfordwest, Dyfed Powys and Merthyr Tydfil, Catrin took up a role managing teams of prosecutors in Merthyr. She was promoted to the role of Trial Unit Head in Swansea and during this period was involved in launching the South Wales Witness Care Units, providing support to victims and witnesses.

After leading the Merthyr and Cardiff districts, Catrin spent two years working on a national project successfully implementing an Optimum Business Model (OBM) for case preparation and case progression.

In August 2011, Catrin became Head of the Complex Casework Unit for CPS Cymru-Wales.

 

Mike Grist

Area Business Manager for CPS Cymru-Wales

 

An experienced Business Manager, Mike has been with the CPS since its inception in 1986.

Mike originally joined Hampshire County Prosecuting Solicitors in 1975 as a Law Clerk, he subsequently held positions of Senior Law Clerk and Acting Chief Law Clerk.

In 1991, he took up post of Chief Law Clerk for Wiltshire and Gloucestershire CPS.  In 1993 he moved to Wales to take up an Operations post and in 1996 he was appointed as Area Administrator for Wales.

In 1999 Mike was appointed as Area Business Manager for CPS West Midlands and after eight years service in Birmingham, returned to Cardiff to take up a similar post for CPS South Wales. In 2011, Mike became Area Business Manager for the newly-created Cymru-Wales Area.

 

Helen Phillips

Business Change and Delivery Manager

 

Helen has worked for the CPS since 1986 and has experience of senior business management roles in South Wales and Gwent. Her Business Change and Delivery Manager role covers the South and East of Wales, mirroring the area covered by Deputy CCP Naheed Hussain.

Helen started her CPS career as a Crown Court caseworker in Cardiff, having previously worked in private practice and in South Wales Police.  Following promotion in 1989, she took on responsibility for Magistrates and Crown Court co-ordination.

After taking on roles supporting the Area Business Manager and Chief Crown Prosecutor in CPS South Wales, she was promoted to Area Business Manager for CPS Gwent in August 2000.

Helen took up her new role as Business Change and Delivery Manager after the creation of the new CPS Cymru-Wales Area in 2011.

 

Wray Ferguson

Business Change and Delivery Manager

 

Wray  has worked for the CPS since 2004, prior to this she worked for  HMCTS in a variety of roles across Wales and the North West. Before leaving HMCTS she was the Court Manager of the Crown Court in North Wales and Cheshire.

Wray started her CPS career as Area Business Manager for CPS North Wales. She took up her new role as Business Change and Delivery Manager for North and West Wales after the creation of the new CPS Cymru-Wales Area in 2011.

 

Jeff Thomas

Business Change and Delivery Manager

 

Jeff joined the CPS in October 1986 as a newly qualified solicitor. He was a Crown Prosecutor on the Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire teams.

In October 1989 he left the CPS to practice as a Criminal Defence Advocate. In 1991 he was made a partner in a three-partner firm delivering quality assured publicly funded legal services in crime, matrimonial & family and personal injury.

He served as Chair of the Amman Valley Duty Solicitor Scheme and represented the scheme as member of the South Wales Regional Duty Solicitor Committee.

Jeff returned to the CPS in 2000, serving as a lawyer on the Carmarthenshire Team until 2003. He was appointed Area Business Manager for Dyfed-Powys in April 2003. In 2009 he graduated from the Open University with an MBA having been sponsored by the CPS.

In 2011, he became Business Change and Delivery Manager, assuming responsibility for a major project to promote digital working within the CPS. Jeff was the first prosecutor to prosecute full lists of cases directly from a laptop in court.

Jeff is a fluent Welsh speaker and frequently does business with colleagues the public in Welsh. He is one of four advocates in the Area who regularly present cases in Welsh.  His particular areas of interest are digital working, knowledge management, the use of the Welsh language in the administration of justice and the protection of vulnerable adults.