Yorkshire and Humberside
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the main prosecuting authority in England and Wales. We work with all agencies in the criminal justice system, and liaise closely with the police, although we are independent from them.
The CPS has 14 operating Areas across England and Wales. CPS Yorkshire and Humberside is one of the largest CPS Areas outside London, serving a population of over five million. The Area covers West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, the Humber, and North East Lincolnshire.
Jonathan Storer, Chief Crown Prosecutor
Jonathan began his career as a Legal Advisor in North Yorkshire and qualified as a solicitor in 1996, before joining the CPS in 2001. Gaining a wide range of experience in various roles in Greater Manchester, he was appointed Senior District Crown Prosecutor in 2010.
Jonathan led a range of Magistrates' and Crown Court teams in Lancashire and Cumbria before moving to CPS London South in 2015 as Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, leading the Crown Court team. Jonathan moved on to join CPS Yorkshire and Humberside in September 2019 as Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Magistrates’ Court team.
Jonathan became the Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Direct in June 2021 and then CCP for Mersey-Cheshire in October that year. In July 2024, he was appointed CCP for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside.
Chris Hartley, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor (Crown Court team)
Chris was called to the bar in 1987, joining a London Chambers which primarily undertook criminal work across the North East. Having found the role of a prosecuting advocate a rewarding experience, Chris joined the CPS in September 1991 as a Senior Crown Prosecutor to widen his experience to include review and preparation of casework.
In 2014, Chris took up a new role in Leeds managing the North and West Yorkshire Magistrates' Courts Unit and in May 2017 became Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for Yorkshire and Humberside, responsible for Magistrates' courts work across the Area.
Michael Quinn, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor (Rape and Serious Sexual Offences, Complex Casework and Crown Advocacy)
Michael joined the CPS from private practice in 1993 as a Senior Crown Prosecutor. He has since held senior management positions in both Crown and Magistrates’ teams, and became Head of the Complex Casework Unit in 2018.
In October 2022, Michael began a six-month temporary promotion to Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor responsible for the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit, Complex Casework Unit and our team of Crown Advocates.
Lauren Costello, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor (Magistrates’ Court team)
Zoe Speake, Area Business Manager
Zoe studied law at university before joining the CPS in 1998 as an administrator and has worked in a number of operational roles including Paralegal Officer before becoming an Associate Prosecutor.
In 2016 she moved to a management role on the West Midlands Magistrates’ Court Unit. Progressing to Operational Business Manager of the Crown Court unit in 2017, she also spent time managing both the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences and Crown Court units before moving to the Head of Business Centre role in 2020.
In 2021 she became the Acting Area Business Manager for the West Midlands and in November that year joined Yorkshire and Humberside as Area Business Manager.
During her career in the CPS she has been involved in a number of digital implementations at the local level, including the move to our Case Management System (CMS), actively promoting and training on Modern CMS, and as one of the Digital Transformation Leads, she led the implementation for EGRESS in the West Midlands Area.
Our Magistrates’ Court Unit prosecutes a very wide range of offences. Generally they are those for which the maximum sentence does not exceed six months’ imprisonment (or 12 months if two or more offences are to be considered). The casework includes crimes of domestic violence, hate crime, assaults, criminal damage, minor public disorder incidents, all but the most serious traffic offences, possession of drugs, dangerous dog offences, offences of dishonesty and commercial burglaries.
The Crown Court Unit deals with very serious offences such as murder and manslaughter, robberies, serious assaults, fraud, the supply and trafficking of drugs, and the most serious road traffic offences, especially those that result in a death.
The Complex Casework Unit houses a team of highly experienced lawyers and caseworkers who handle our most serious and high profile cases. The bulk of their casework arises from serious and organised crime - particularly drugs importation and distribution; money laundering, organised crime, multi-defendant homicide, child sexual exploitation and serious fraud.
The Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit is a dedicated and specialist team which prosecutes cases such as rape, serious sexual offences and child abuse. The lawyers in this unit are all specially trained prosecutors who fully understand the sensitivities of prosecuting cases of this nature, and how difficult it can be for victims to come forward and if necessary, give evidence in court.
Regional Community Panels
We have three regional, thematic scrutiny panels, who inform our work on hate crime, domestic abuse and rape.
Panel members are drawn from a wide cross-section of community groups including charities, inter-agency partnerships and local authorities.
The overall remit of each panel is to scrutinise CPS casework and decision-making to improve performance and ensure the delivery of our Core Quality Standards. Panel members will undertake the following activities in relation to their specialist area of casework:
- Review and scrutinise non-active CPS case files;
- Identify issues, common themes and trends in the decision-making process, looking in particular at the impact of CPS decision-making on diverse communities;
- Make recommendations to the CPS to improve CPS performance and support to victims and witnesses;
- Provide feedback to colleagues and communities on the results of the panel and actions taken by the CPS in response to the panels observations and recommendations.
The panels meet between two and three times a year.
Victims and Witnesses
Witness Care Units
Witness Care Units (WCUs) provide practical help and moral support to victims and witnesses.
The Units provide:
- Witness Care Officers who act as a single point of contact for a victim or witness throughout the life of a case from the point of charge through any court proceedings that may follow. They will help individuals through the criminal justice process and coordinate support and services.
- A full 'needs assessment' to identify exactly what help victims and witnesses require to ensure they can attend court. This could include practical difficulties such as provision of child care, transport, help with language difficulties, medical problems and areas of concern, including possible intimidation
- Continuous review of victim and witness needs throughout the case by the CPS and police
- Greater communication and contact with witnesses about cases including the case outcome or trial result.
Victims' Right to Review
The VRR scheme makes it easier for victims to seek a review of a CPS decision not to bring charges or to terminate proceedings.
If you are a victim seeking to exercise your right to request a review of a CPS decision not to bring charges, discontinue proceedings or offer no evidence in a case please first see our Victims Right to Review page for more information.
For VRR enquiries and applications, please use the Contact page on this website in the first instance.
Yorkshire & Humberside contact point for Victims' Right to Review enquiries:
Email: [email protected]
Please note that the scheme applies only in relation to qualifying decisions made on or after 5 June 2013.
Victim Personal Statements
What are they?
Victim Personal Statements are optional written statements which give the victim an opportunity to say how they have been affected by the crime: physically, emotionally or financially.
They may wish to talk about their fear of intimidation, concerns about bail and whether they would like help from a support agency.
Victim Personal Statements provide additional information to that given by the victim in their statement to the police.
Who can make a Victim Personal Statement?
Anyone who has been a victim of crime and who has made a statement to police has the opportunity to give a Victim Personal Statement.
What happens once a Victim Personal Statement has been taken?
The Victim Personal Statement becomes part of the case papers and is seen by the Police, defence lawyers, magistrates and judges at court.
What does the CPS do with the Victim Personal Statement?
We take into account what the victim says when we make decisions on the case and ensure that, where appropriate, the court is aware of the contents of the statement so this can be considered, for example, in sentencing.
Special Measures
In some cases people require special measures to be taken to help them give evidence. Special Measures can sometimes be available to victims and witnesses that are vulnerable or intimidated.
The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime defines vulnerable victims as those under 17 years of age or those with a physical or mental disability or disorder, including learning difficulties, whose quality of evidence is likely to be reduced if the special measures are not taken. The victims of domestic violence and the family of murder and manslaughter victims are also classed as vulnerable.
Intimidated victims also qualify for special measures and these are defined as people whose evidence will be hindered by being in fear of the defendant or who are in distress about giving evidence.