Recent Achievements

The Sector is highly performing and seeks to provide an excellent service to victims and witnesses. There is much good news for the Sector to celebrate for example:

  • On the 16 November 2010, cash was being transited to the Santander Bank in Stratford-Upon-Avon when the two defendants, Aaron Collins, aged 33 and Richard Challenor, 25, knocked a guard to the floor by Challenor and threatened with a firearm. The guards retreated into the bank and a third man, who has never been traced, began to smash the doors down with a sledge hammer. The threats with the gun continued. Members of the public intervened and the gang fled at high speed, however, the getaway car crashed. Challenor was arrested nearby and Collins was traced through DNA on the air bag from the crashed car. Collins was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court to 10 years for attempted robbery and Challenor to eight years for possession of an imitation firearm with intent and attempted robbery.
  • The victim went out with friends for an evening out in Coventry. The defendant, Abdikarim Abbas Abdisamad, aged 33 and originally from Somalia, joined the group and was known to some of her friends. They ended up sharing a taxi, and returned to her flat. After conversation between them the defendant was to sleep on the sofa. The victim was in her bedroom and had prepared to sleep. The defendant came up and forced himself on her ripping her clothing and raped her. She persuaded him to go downstairs and was trying to get him to leave when he physically assaulted her and raped her again before leaving. She suffered bites, bruising and a fractured eye socket.  Abdisamad admitted presence but denied the rape. The victim attended the trial and the defendant pleaded guilty on a full facts basis and he was sentenced to 10 years for rape at Coventry Crown Court
  • A robbery took place on 6 June 2011 at the One Stop Supermarket, Wheelwright Lane, Coventry. Two masked men, Dean and Lee Clements came in with metal bars and threatened staff. One member of staff was pushed to the floor by Lee, while the other was taken to the back of the shop by Dean and forced to handover £1,400 from the safe. Both the defendants were traced thought DNA from some socks discarded near the scene. Lee admitted the robbery and Dean denied his part until the day of trial. Lee Clements, aged 35, was sentenced to five and half years for robbery and his brother, Dean, 33, to two years at Coventry Crown Court.

Home » Eastern Sector

West Midlands CPS - Eastern Sector

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the main prosecuting authority in England and Wales. In our daily operations we work in partnership with all the agencies in the criminal justice system. We work especially closely with the police, although we are independent of them.

The Eastern Sector of West Midlands CPS handles the prosecution work from Coventry and Warwickshire, which provides the Sector with a mix of urban and rural locations and diverse communities.

The Sector has a total of 91 staff comprised of lawyers, para-legal and administrative staff performing a combination of advocacy, case preparation and support to the prosecution process.

We are based in two locations, Coventry and Royal Leamington Spa. Our office in Coventry deals with the magistrates court work, and services the magistrates courts of Coventry, Solihull, Nuneaton and Leamington Spa. The Crown Court work is dealt with at our Leamington Spa office which services the Crown Courts sitting in Coventry and the Justice Centre at Leamington.

The Crown Court team comprises of a mixture of staff who undertake all aspects of case preparation. Many of our Crown Court cases are presented by our in-house Crown Advocate Unit, who are centralised at our Birmingham office, but travel out to court centres across the region. 

The Sector also boasts the innovative 'Warwickshire Justice Centre' which hosts all criminal justice agencies in one location. 

Senior Management Team

Suzanne Llewellyn, Acting Senior Sector Crown Prosecutor

Suzanne LlewellynSuzanne commenced her career at West Midlands CPS in 1991. In 2001 she transferred to West Mercia CPS where she introduced statutory charging.

She qualified as a Higher Court Advocate in 2004 and undertook regular Advocacy at both the magistrates and Crown Courts.

Since 2010, Suzanne has been the West Midlands Regional Lead for Violence Against Women and has most recently rolled out an Area Strategy to establish Specialist Public Protection Units based at Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham and Droitwich. These Units work collaboratively with the police and voluntary sector victim support agencies to enhance victim and witness care.  

She has been involved in a rolling programme of training to criminal justice partners, the Violence Against Women Scrutiny Panels and numerous community forums.

Suzanne is also currently Acting Sector District Crown Prosecutor for Southern Sector and retains her lead thematic role for Violence Against Women for the West Midlands Area.

Graham Hubbard, Sector Crown Prosecutor

Graham is an experienced Crown Advocate who has practised for over 15 years at the CPS in Thames Valley and Coventry and Warwickshire. He has worked in all elements of the CPS business, both in the Crown and magistrates court work.

James Mathers, Sector Crown Prosecutor

James MathersJames joined the CPS in 2000 as a Senior Crown Prosecutor. He became a Level D lawyer manager in 2004 working initially with the Regional Asset Recovery Team dealing with Proceeds of Crime.  In 2007 he moved to head up the team in Wolverhampton and in 2008 was moved to Bournville Lane Police Station to work in the Magistrates Court Department there.  He returned to the main Birmingham office in 2009, and in 2011 was asked to head up the Charging Unit which was responsible for day time charging decisions across the Area.  Before his current posting, he was leading the Black Country Magistrates Court Unit which based in Wednesfield where he introducing digital working across the four court centres in the Black Country.