Wessex
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the main prosecuting authority in England and Wales. In our daily operations we work in partnership with all agencies in the criminal justice system. We work especially closely with the police, although we are independent of them.
The CPS has 14 Areas across England and Wales - the CPS Wessex Area consists of the counties of Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and Wiltshire.
Kate Brown, Chief Crown Prosecutor
Kate became Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Wessex in June 2024.
She began prosecuting for the CPS in 1994 in Shropshire, moving to Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset. She held a variety of positions before becoming the Senior District Crown Prosecutor for South East Hampshire in 2004.
In November 2006 she was appointed as the Temporary Chief Crown Prosecutor for Dorset and was permanently appointed to that role in September 2007. In April 2011, Kate became the Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for Wessex. Kate is also a Crown Advocate.
She was appointed as the Chief Crown Prosecutor (CCP) for Wessex in January 2013 and became the CCP for CPS Direct in June 2017, then CCP for CPS South East in May 2021.
Kate was appointed Chief Crown Prosecutor for Wessex in June 2024.
Tim Cole, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor
Tim was appointed as temporary Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor in August 2024 and is responsible for the Magistrates court team, Complex Casework Unit and Fraud hub.
Tim qualified as a solicitor in 1994. He joined the CPS in Hampshire as a Senior Crown Prosecutor in 2001 and has worked in Wessex throughout his time in the CPS.
He was appointed as a Senior District Crown Prosecutor in 2006 and established the area’s first RASSO unit. He has led magistrates' court and Crown Court teams in Wessex.
Sophie Stevens, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor
Sophie joined the CPS in 2006 leaving her work as a defence solicitor having qualified and worked in Hong Kong.
Before taking up her post as Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor (“DCCP”) in January 2022, she was the Senior District Crown Prosecutor and Head of the Complex Casework Unit and Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (“RASSO”) Unit.
As DCCP in Wessex she has responsibility for the Crown Court Unit, the Crown Advocacy Unit and the RASSO Unit. She is the Area Disproportionality Champion and Strategic Lead for a number of areas including Disclosure and Case Progression, Hate Crime and Violence Against Women and Girls.
In her spare time, she enjoys open water sea swimming (all year round) and enjoys life in Portsmouth with her partner and their two dogs.
Bonnie Richmond-Jones, Area Business Manager
Bonnie joined the CPS in January 2000 in CPS Norfolk as an A1 receptionist and throughout her CPS career has undertaken many roles in the Operational Delivery profession, including Casework Assistant, Business Support Manager, Paralegal Officer, Paralegal Business Manager, Project and Change manager, Change and Assurance Manager and Head of Business Centre. Bonnie was appointed temporary Area Business Manager in CPS Wessex in December 2024.
Bonnie has worked in several different Areas of her CPS career including CPS Norfolk, CPS Essex, CPS Hertfordshire, CPS South East and finally in CPS Wessex where she joined in July 2013. Bonnie has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Operational Delivery, Business Delivery and Assurance processes, systems and management. Bonnie is proud to be a ODP champion, striving for excellence and opportunities for our operational delivery staff.
In her spare time, she enjoys sewing, watching live music, walks along the beach in her hometown of Bournemouth where she resides with her husband and two boys.
Our Crown Court team is mainly based at our offices in Eastleigh. They are responsible for dealing with cases involving serious offences which have to be tried by a jury, or where the magistrates’ courts do not have sufficient sentencing powers for the seriousness of the crime.
Casework includes murders, robberies, serious assaults, dwelling house burglaries, complex fraud, the supply and trafficking of drugs, and the most serious road traffic offences, especially those that result in a fatality.
Our magistrates’ court team is mainly based at our Portsmouth Offices, with two support teams based at our Chippenham and Eastleigh offices. They are responsible for prosecuting a wide range of offences, generally those for which the maximum sentence is six months' imprisonment.
Casework includes domestic abuse, assaults, hate crimes, criminal damage, minor public order incidents, minor traffic offences (excluding those dealt with by the police as police-led prosecutions), possession of drugs, dangerous dog offences and commercial burglaries.
Our Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) Unit is a dedicated specialist team which prosecutes cases such as rape, serious sexual assaults and child abuse. The lawyers in this team, which is based in our Portsmouth office, are all specially trained and fully understand the sensitivities of prosecuting cases of this nature.
The CPS Wessex Complex Casework Unit handles our most serious and high profile cases. These can include murders, large-scale child abuse or abduction.
Our specialist prosecutors in the Wessex Fraud Centre deal with offending that has taken place in London, Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex, Kent, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Wiltshire and Hertfordshire.
Casework includes fraudulent claims for Student Loads, Child Maintenance, Tax Credits, Disability Living Allowance and the fraudulent evasion of duty by selling prohibited or restricted goods.
Working with you
Local Scrutiny and Involvement Panels provide the opportunity for local communities to work with us to improve our response to hate crime, domestic abuse and rape and serious sexual assault conviction rates, ensuring that lessons are learnt and good practice identified.
CPS Wessex participates in three Local Criminal Justice Boards which bring together the Chief Officers from agencies within the criminal justice system. The boards work to improve public confidence in the criminal justice system and raise awareness of the agencies within it.
Current priorities focus on securing an increase in the number of offences brought to justice, caring for victims and witnesses of crime and improving public confidence in the criminal justice system.
The Chief Crown Prosecutor, amongst other staff, sits on each board alongside the police, probation, prison service and court service.