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.
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 university student who sold more than a thousand phishing kits which were used to defraud victims of millions of pounds, has today been jailed. Ollie Holman, 21, admitted to selling phishing kits, which contained fraudulent webpages designed to look genuine, to dupe victims into filling in…
A man has been jailed for murdering his wife in front of their baby in a pram while out in the streets of Bradford.Habibur Rahman Masum, 26, of Burnley, Lancashire has been sentenced to life imprisonment to serve a minimum of 28 years at Bradford Crown Court today (22 July 2025) for murder, one…
Press ReleaseDomestic abuseCPSYorkshire and Humberside
A man who wanted to help the Russian Intelligence Service by leaking private information about the former Secretary of State for Defence has been convicted. Retired insolvency worker Howard Phillips, 65, told undercover agents who he thought were Russian spies that he could provide them with…
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 double murderer who tried to dispose of dismembered body parts hidden in suitcases at Clifton Suspension Bridge has been convicted of the brutal killings of a couple.Yostin Mosquera, 35, was found guilty of murdering Paul Longworth and Albert Alfonso today (July 21, 2025) following a trial at…
Originally published on 3 April 2025A woman from Gloucestershire has been sentenced to 15 years for the manslaughter of her baby daughter.In April 2020, shortly after the start of the Covid 19 lockdown, Melissa Wilband, 28, was living with her two young children, a two-year-old boy and five-month…
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…
A former NHS worker was sentenced today (Friday 18 July 2025) guilty for conspiring to create hundreds of false COVID-19 vaccination records.Wayne Knight, 40, a Senior Healthcare Worker at North East London NHS Foundation Trust pleaded guilty to fraud by misrepresentation and money laundering…
A woman from Bradford who enlisted her own children into a sophisticated £5 million pound cocaine smuggling operation was jailed for more than 13 years today at Birmingham Crown Court.Farzana Kauser, 54, headed up the Bradford-based gang, five of which were her own children, including two who were…
Press ReleaseDrug offencesCPS
Press Office contact details
Please note that our Press Office is NOT able to deal with issues or queries from members of the public - these contact details are for accredited journalists ONLY. Do not call this number unless you a member of the press. For all general enquiries, please visit contact.cps.gov.uk.
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.
If you follow us on social media, you can expect posts covering some or all of the following:
Operational updates on decisions to prosecute or take no further action;
Reactions and statements on trial outcomes;
Policy updates from the Director of Public Prosecutions and other prosecutors;
Updates on media appearances by CPS staff
Content that explains the role of the CPS and how we work
Highlighting of relevant work by our criminal justice partners and other stakeholders
We will aim to be fair and accurate in all the information we publish. We will aim to correct any inaccuracies as soon as possible.
We are unable to monitor social media round the clock. We are not able to engage with all those who seek a response from us due to resources but also due to privacy and the sensitive nature of some of our work. The best way to contact the CPS is through our website.
Please do not try to report crime using social media. To report crime, please call 101 or visit your local police station. In an emergency, always call 999.
If you follow us on social media we will not automatically follow you back. Being followed by us does not imply endorsement of any kind.
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.
