North West
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 - the CPS North West Area covers the counties of Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Lancashire and serves a population of 4.8 million people.
Janet Potter, Acting Chief Crown Prosecutor
Janet was admitted as a solicitor in 1988. After four years in private practice undertaking criminal defence work she joined the Merseyside Crown Prosecution Service and spent nine years as a Senior Crown Prosecutor. In 2001 she was promoted to Prosecution Team Leader on the Mersey North Branch and managed a number of teams between 2001 and 2008, becoming temporary Senior District Crown Prosecutor for Mersey North in 2008.
Janet became the District Crown Prosecutor for the newly formed co-located rape and serious sexual assault unit in Liverpool in 2010, later setting up a similar unit in Cheshire. As the Area Rape Coordinator she worked closely with partner agencies and the police to bring about improvements in witness care and the quality of prosecutions.
In 2012 Janet became District Crown Prosecutor for the Mersey/Cheshire Crown Court Team as well as retaining the management of the RASSO teams. In 2013 she was promoted to Head of the Mersey/Cheshire Complex Casework Unit (CCU) and was also the Area Lead for Disclosure. Janet was seconded to the Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division of the CPS in 2015 as Unit Head of the Hillsborough Team, which had responsibility for charging and prosecuting a number of defendants with criminal offences arising from the Hillsborough disaster and its aftermath.
In 2017 she was appointed as Deputy Head of Specialist Fraud Division, responsible for prosecuting serious economic crime and in June 2020 she moved to North West Area as Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor with responsibility for the RASSO team and the Complex Casework Unit and became Acting CCP for CPS North West in Summer 2025.
Joanne Cunliffe, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor
Joanne joined CPS in 2001 as a Senior Crown Prosecutor, after working as a Legal Adviser in the Courts Service.
As a Senior Crown Prosecutor Joanne gained experience in both the magistrates' and Crown Court teams, dealing with a wide range of cases and qualified as a Crown Advocate. In 2008 she joined the CPS North West Complex Casework Unit (NW CCU) and subsequently took up the role of Deputy Head of the Unit in 2013. In 2015 Joanne set up the North West Rape and Serious Sexual Offence Unit and was promoted to Unit Head.
Joanne became a temporary Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor in 2018 and in 2019 was successful in becoming a Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West on a permanent basis. Joanne is responsible for Crown Court casework for the North West Area.
Katie Nicholson, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor
Katie joined the Crown Prosecution Service in 2008 as a Senior Crown Prosecutor, after working in private practice undertaking criminal defence work. As a Senior Crown Prosecutor Katie gained experience in the Magistrates' Court, Crown Court and Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Units. In 2016 she joined CPS North East as a District Crown Prosecutor, responsible for the Rape and Serious Offence Unit in Newcastle.
In 2018 Katie returned to CPS North West and was promoted to Senior District Crown Prosecutor with responsibility for the Lancashire and Cumbria Crown Unit, moving over to Greater Manchester Crown Court Unit in the same role in 2020.
Katie became a temporary Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor in 2022 and, in 2024, was successful in becoming a Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West on a permanent basis and is responsible for all Magistrates’ Court cases in the North West Area.
Naheed Hussain, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor
Naheed qualified as a solicitor in 1986. She joined CPS Thames Valley as a Crown Prosecutor in 1989, before moving to CPS Yorkshire in 1990 as a Senior Crown Prosecutor. Naheed dealt with the full range of casework in both the magistrates’ and crown courts. Naheed specialised in youth work, hate crime and later worked as a Crown Advocate.
Naheed moved to managing legal teams as a District Crown Prosecutor in 2004 and played a key role in the first Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel. In 2006, Naheed was promoted to the post of Senior District Crown Prosecutor and headed up the City of Manchester Branch, where she set up the first specialist unit dealing with sexual offences. In 2009 Naheed was appointed Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS South Yorkshire, under the previous 42 Area structure.
Upon the move to the current 13 Area structure, Naheed took up the post of Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor in CPS Wales, before moving to CPS London in 2012 with responsibility for Crown Court North. In 2013 Naheed moved to the Operations Directorate as Programme Director, initially working on the Single Fraud Investigation Service Project with the Department of Work and Pensions and then on the Serious Casework Review.
Naheed moved to the Specialist Fraud Division, as Deputy Head of Division responsible for the London teams in 2015. Between 2017 and 2024 Naheed worked in CPS Headquarters in the Operations Directorate and led the team of prosecutors responsible for delivering national legal training across the service.
Naheed joined CPS North West in July 2024 and has responsibility for CPS crown advocates and the Area’s legal trainees.
Howard Gough, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor
Howard joined CPS North West in 1998 as a solicitor, following several years working within the Courts Service.
Howard became a CPS manager in 2005 and has subsequent experience of being a Senior District Crown Prosecutor in several teams during his career, including area Crown Court and Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) and Complex Casework Units.
Howard became Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS West Midlands in November 2024.
In September 2025, he returned to CPS North West as a Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, with responsibility for the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RaSSO) Unit and the Complex Casework Unit.
Howard has vast experience across the full range of offence types and has led the area on issues such as Joint Enterprise Homicide, Child Sexual Exploitation, Disclosure, International enquires, Organised Criminal Gangs, Cyber and Economic Crime. Howard has also advised upon and prosecuted many cases with a national profile.
Caroline Staveley, Area Business Manager
Caroline Staveley has worked for the CPS since January 1999 when she began her career as an administrator at the CPS Oldham office. Over the next few years she achieved a number of promotions to Caseworker, Branch Business Support Manager, Branch Business Manager and she also completed a period of temporary promotion as Senior Area Business Manager for Greater Manchester in 2009.
In 2010 Caroline was appointed as Head of North West Area Operations Centre and then as Business Change and Delivery Manager from February 2013. In April 2018 she was promoted to Area Business Manager for CPS North West with overall responsibility for the Operational Delivery and Business Operations for the North West Area.
Caroline is a qualified ILM Level 7 Executive Coach and a Chartered Member of CIPD.
The Magistrates’ Court Unit prosecutes offences 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. Most criminal cases are heard in magistrates’ courts.
The Crown Court Unit deals with cases involving serious offences, which have to be tried before a jury or where the magistrates’ courts do not have sufficient sentencing powers for the seriousness of the crime.
The Complex Casework Unit prosecutes the most complex and sensitive cases in the area, including organised crime cases and cross-border crime.
The Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit is a specialist team who prosecute cases of rape and serious sexual offences from across the North West.
Working with You
We aim provide the best possible service to victims and witnesses in the North West. We work with our local communities so that we have a better understanding of how crime affects them and so that we can explain the role of the CPS and the work we do.
We have set up Local Scrutiny Involvement Panels (LSIPs), which include members of the public and members of voluntary organisations who support victims of certain kinds of crime, such as hate crime, sexual violence or domestic violence. Their input into our work is vital to help us improve the service we give to victims and witnesses.
We welcome invitations to meet with groups and organisations in the North West and we attend events, give presentations and answer questions about the work of the CPS.
Victims and Witnesses
We are committed to dealing with Victims and Witnesses with respect. We understand being a victim and or witness of crime can be difficult and are sensitive to how vulnerable some may feel due to their experiences.
We will ensure that they are dealt with in a professional and courteous manner. We will listen to their needs and support them through the process so that they can give their best evidence at court.
This CPS Area is committed to ensuring that we are renowned for our professionalism, and that we are delivering justice to all members of our communities.
We want communities to continue to have confidence in their local justice system, to believe their interests are fairly represented and justice is seen to be done.
The VRR scheme makes it easier for victims to seek a review of a CPS decision not to bring charges or to terminate proceedings.
If you are a victim seeking to exercise your right to request a review of a CPS decision not to bring charges, discontinue proceedings or offer no evidence in a case please first see our Victims Right to Review page for more information.
For VRR enquiries and applications, please use the Contact page on this website in the first instance.
North West contact point for Victims' Right to Review enquiries:
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0161 827 4971
Please note that the scheme applies only in relation to qualifying decisions made on or after 5 June 2013.