A man has been jailed for his role in a people smuggling operation which resulted in the tragic deaths of 39 Vietnamese men, women and children.
 
Marius Mihai Draghici, 50, has been sentenced today (11 July 2023) to 12 years and seven months imprisonment at the Old Bailey in London.
                                                              

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has today rolled out an ambitious new blueprint to transform how adult rape cases are prosecuted.

The National Operating Model (NOM) aims to drive up the number of cases taken to court and improve victim experiences.

Learning from Operation Soteria, the model, which is being launched in England and Wales in tandem with the police, will drive cultural and operational change right across the CPS by setting an improved and standardised approach for how adult rape cases are handled.

A former officer responsible for policing nightclubs and bars in London’s West End has been jailed for taking bribes including tickets to exclusive events, a family holiday to Morocco, and renovations to his home. 

Frank Partridge, 50, who was formerly of the Metropolitan Police’s Westminster Licensing Unit, previously pleaded guilty to three charges of bribery and was convicted of four further charges of bribery by a jury on 12 July following a 12-week trial at Southwark Crown Court. He was acquitted of one bribery charge. 

New figures from CPS internal data shows that the number of rape referrals made by Kent, Surrey and Sussex Police has almost trebled in the last three years.

The South East has been taking part in a pilot programme to transform how adult rapes are prosecuted, which is now being rolled out nationally as the next stage of a commitment to drive up the number of cases taken to court and improve victim experiences. 

New figures from CPS internal data shows that the number of rape-flagged cases being referred to prosecutors in CPS Wessex has increased and a fifth more are being charged.

CPS Wessex has been taking part in a pilot programme to transform how adult rape cases are prosecuted, which is now being rolled out nationally as the next stage of a commitment to drive up the number of cases taken to court and improve victim experiences.