Who we are

Around 7,000 people work for the Crown Prosecution Service, across England and Wales in a variety of roles. Almost half our employees are lawyers, who are responsible for deciding whether to prosecute cases, and represent the Crown in many hearings in the courts. The rest work to assist prosecutors preparing cases for court, or in other professions including operational delivery, finance, human resources, communications and digital and technology services.

He began his legal career in 1984 as a junior prosecutor at the Department of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which became the CPS in 1986. He progressed to Assistant Branch Crown Prosecutor roles and later established and led the CPS’ International Co-operation Unit.

Stephen subsequently held roles across Government, including positions in the Treasury Solicitor’s Department, where he was responsible for most of the Government’s regulatory litigation, and the Department of Trade and Industry, where he headed a team providing legal advice in live company investigations. For four years from 1999, Stephen was Deputy Head of the Attorney General’s Office.

For the past 20 years, Stephen has been a practising defence lawyer. He became Head of Criminal Practice at the law firm Kingsley Napley in 2006, going on to become Senior Partner at the firm in 2018. Representing a range of clients, Stephen developed an extensive practice advising on, or undertaking, investigations for organisations, companies, and individuals.

Our people

Related information

How we're kept accountable

The Crown Prosecution Service is accountable to both Parliament and the public. This page explains how we make sure we are responsible and transparent in our work.

How we're kept accountable

Boards and committees

Find out more about the senior leadership groups, with minutes from meetings and expenditure data.

Boards and committees

What we do

Learn more about what we do and what we don't do.

What we do