East of England
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. CPS East of England consists of the counties of Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.
Chief Crown Prosecutor Emma Davies is the head of CPS East of England and she is supported by Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Carly Hall, who has responsibility for the Crown Court and Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit. Susan Stovell is the Area Business Manager who has responsibility for Business and Operational Delivery functions across the region.
We currently employ around 350 members of staff, consisting of lawyers, paralegals and administrators. The majority of our staff are based in our headquarters in Chelmsford; we also have staff based in Norwich at Carmelite House and in Ipswich at the Crown Court.
The Area is supported by a Business Centre which houses a team of specialists in the fields of performance, finance, human resources, communications and inclusion.
Emma Davies, Chief Crown Prosecutor
Emma studied law at Sheffield Hallam University before undertaking her Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the University of West of England. She qualified as a solicitor in 2007.
Emma was previously the Head of the Solicitor Team at the Public Defender Service and prior to joining the Civil Service was a partner in a national criminal law firm with responsibility for both crime and prison law work.
Emma joined CPS South West in September 2019 as Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, where she was responsible for the Crown Court and Complex Casework Units. She was appointed Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS East of England in July 2024.
Carly Hall, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor
DCCP Carly Hall has responsibility for the Crown Court and Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Units.
Carly joined the CPS in 2004, initially working in Hertfordshire CPS. Carly then moved to London CPS in 2005 working on a combined Magistrates' and Crown Court Unit before progressing to the London RASSO team when it was established in 2010 working on a number of high-profile cases including Operation Yewtree.
In 2014 Carly was promoted to Specialist Prosecutor and moved to the Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division attached to Counter Terrorism Unit before moving to the ARU in 2016.
Following a promotion to DCP Carly moved to the East of England Area as part of the Magistrates' Court Unit before progressing to the Crown Court team to run the Essex Trials Unit in 2018.
In December 2020 Carly was promoted to SDCP initially as Unit Head for Magistrates' Court team before moving to the Crown Court Unit in September 2021. Since 3 January 2023, Carly has been the temporary DCCP for the Crown Court and RASSO Units.
Susan Stovell, Area Business Manager
Susan joined the CPS in 1986 and worked across a range of roles including finance, personnel and accommodation within the London North Area. In 1992 Susan moved to the HQ Directorate in CPS Headquarters working within specialist fields including pay strategy and negotiations, appraisal, policy and operations.
In 2003, Susan joined the East of England Area and is now the Area Business Manager with responsibilities for both strategic and operational performance.
Our Magistrates’ Court Unit prosecutes offences of domestic violence, assaults, criminal damage, minor public disorder incidents, some traffic offences, possession of drugs, dangerous dog offences, offences of dishonesty and commercial burglaries.
The list is not exhaustive but generally comprises of any offence where the maximum permitted sentence for each offence does not exceed six months imprisonment or one year if two or more relevant offences are to be considered.
The Crown Court Unit deals with cases such as murder, robbery, 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.
The Complex Casework Unit (CCU) is responsible for the largest and most complex cases in the Area. Its casework typically arises from serious and organised crime which is often cross border, particularly drugs importation and distribution, money laundering and modern slavery. The CCU also undertakes large scale child abuse cases, complex homicide and fraud.
The Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit is a dedicated and specialised team which prosecutes cases such as rape, serious sexual offences, child abuse and child sexual exploitation. The staff on the unit all have a great deal of understanding of the sensitivities of prosecuting cases of this nature and how difficult and harrowing it can be for a complainant from the first step of making a complaint to the police, through to giving evidence in a trial.