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.
A PhD student at the University College London has been convicted of the rape of 10 women.Zhenhao Zou, 28, was charged with 35 offences which included 11 counts of rape as well as three counts of voyeurism, 12 counts of possession of extreme pornographic images, one of false imprisonment and eight…
A man who stalked a woman, which included following her to Paris, has been jailed and given a 10-year restraining order.Oscar Romero, 44, from St Albans, pleaded guilty to stalking involving serious alarm or distress and was sentenced today at Kingston Upon Thames Crown Court to 20 weeks’…
On 6 January 2025 at Isleworth Crown Court, Linda De Sousa Abreu was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment.Lionel Idan, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The actions of this defendant have not only had an impact on the trust that the public places in prison…
A man who paid people in the Philippines to organise live strip shows, many of which involved children aged between 9 and 16 years old, has been jailed.Duncan Bartlett, 57, was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment this week (Monday 9 December) at Wood Green Crown Court, having previously pleaded…
Members of a gang who smuggled cocaine with a street value of £200 million inside a shipment of bananas have been jailed for more than 116 years. Petko Zhutev, Ghergii Diko, and Bruno Kuci pleaded guilty to smuggling the shipment into the UK while Erik Muci and Olsi Ebeja were found guilty of…
Members of a gang who trafficked 12 people from eastern Europe and forced them to work long hours while stealing their wages have been jailed.Zdenek Drevenak, 47, his partner Monika Daducova, 44, Jiri Cernohous, 49, and Martin Slovjak, 46, all from the Czech Republic, acted together to lure 10 men…
Two men who smuggled a vast quantity of cocaine into the United Kingdom in a high-stakes operation at sea have been jailed.Stephen Lloyd-Jones, 56, Kursat Kizilkaya, 33, and Tiamo Zanaj, 33, were found guilty of a conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the country after a five-week trial concluded at…
A serving prisoner who played a leading role in organising the production and supply of drugs in prisons has been jailed today.Alexander Mullings, 33, was sentenced for conspiracies to produce and supply various illegal drugs both inside and outside of prison, whilst himself a serving prisoner at…
Rioters who caused chaos on the streets of London and were involved in widespread disorder have been sentenced to a combined five years’ imprisonment.David Spring, 61, of Sutton, David Probert, 50, of Mill End, Hertfordshire, and David Notley, 67, of Redbridge, pleaded guilty to violent disorder…
A man who caused damage to two mosques, a café and the Palestine Mission to the UK with red paint on eleven separate occasions has been sentenced to an increased penalty today after the CPS successfully applied for a hate crime uplift.Jonathan Katan, 62, committed these crimes over the course of a…
Press ReleaseHate crimeLondon South
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.
