Criminal cases that the Crown Prosecution Service take to court are in the news every day. This section also covers many issues related to our work, including violence against women and girls, hate crime, support for victims and witnesses, statistics, and speeches by the Director of Public Prosecutions and other senior staff.
Latest news
You can find our latest news stories here and search for older stories. You can also find more information about high-profile cases and the work of the CPS.
Working with the media
To make criminal court reporting more open, the CPS, police, and media representatives created a joint protocol (agreement) for working together. We are currently working on an updated version of the protocol.
Showing 21 - 30 of 136 results for crime type "Sexual offences" & area "CPS"
A man who sexually assaulted and harassed a 14-year-old girl in Epping has been convicted.Hadush Kebatu, 41, also sexually assaulted an adult woman – with his actions taking place over a two-day period earlier this year.The offences were charged swiftly by the CPS’ out-of-hours division and a…
A transgender woman who failed to disclose her gender status to a male sexual partner has been found guilty of sexual assault today at Teesside Crown Court.Ciara Watkin, 21, of Walton Street, Stockton-on-Tees, was found guilty of multiple charges relating to sexual acts that she performed on the 21…
A man has been sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for grooming and raping a schoolgirl in Rotherham 20 years ago.The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) dedicated Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit prosecuted Paul Richardson, 63, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) under…
A former ordained Church of England priest has been found guilty of multiple counts of indecent assaults on nine women in Sheffield in the 1980s and 1990s.Chris Brain, 68, has been found guilty of 17 counts of indecent assault at Inner London Crown Court on 20 August 2025. He was cleared of a…
A Leicester man has been jailed for nearly 15 years for rape and controlling or coercive behaviour, after prosecutors challenged his claim he had committed the offences in his sleep.Dean Final, 32, from Braunstone, admitted he had physically, sexually and emotionally abused two former partners…
Three men have been found guilty of raping teenage girls in Rotherham more than two decades ago.The Crown Prosecution Service’s dedicated Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit prosecuted Kessur Ajaib, 43, Sageer Hussain, 39, and Mohammed Makhmood, 43, following an investigation by the National Crime…
A celebrity osteopath who is thought to be one of London’s most prolific ever voyeurs was jailed for three years today, after he admitted taking intimate images and videos of thousands of women without their knowledge.Torben Stig Hersborg, 64, of Tower Hamlets, London, took secret pictures and…
A man who sent large amounts of money to paedophiles in the Philippines and encouraged them to sexually abuse children has been jailed for 26 years.Patrick Lee Howlett, 58, of Canterbury, sent money from himself and others to abusers overseas to mistreat young children, including members of their…
The Crown Prosecution Service has today authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Thomas Partey with multiple counts of rape.Partey, 32, has been charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.These allegations relate to three separate women who reported incidents which took…
A man who used drugs, coercion and violence to exploit two teen girls in Manchester 20 years ago, has been jailed. Christopher Oates, 45, was prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) following an investigation by Greater Manchester Police (GMP).He has been sentenced today (26 June…
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If you are a national or international journalist with a media enquiry, you can contact the CPS Press Office on 020 3357 0906 or email [email protected] (9am-5pm weekdays only).
For out-of-hours media enquiries please call 020 3357 0906 to reach the duty press officer.
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Media protocol
To ensure greater openness in the reporting of criminal proceedings, the CPS, the police and media representatives developed a joint protocol for working together. We are currently in the process of updating the protocol.
