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.
CPS North West is led by Chief Crown Prosecutor Martin Goldman. He has overall responsibility for the prosecution of cases in the region. He is supported by Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Ian Rushton who leads the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) Unit, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Joanne Cunliffe, who has responsibility for Crown Court cases and Elizabeth Jenkins, who has responsibility for Magistrates’ Court cases. Caroline Staveley is our Area Business Manager and has responsibility for business and operational delivery functions across the region.
We employ approximately 450 members of staff - lawyers, paralegal officers, witness care officers, administrators and business support staff - who are based in our offices in Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle, Manchester and Preston. A small team of CPS Witness Care Officers are based in Kendal Police Station.
The Area Business Centre and Business Support Units are responsible for the management of specialist business functions of performance, finance, human resources, facilities management, communications, change delivery and community engagement.
Executive Team Toggle accordion
Chief Crown Prosecutor, Martin Goldman
Martin Goldman studied for his law degree at Dundee University before going on to complete his Solicitors' finals at the Chester College of Law in 1987.
He completed his articles in his native Liverpool, qualifying as a solicitor in 1989. Martin then joined CPS West Yorkshire as a trainee Crown Prosecutor, becoming a Crown Prosecutor in 1991. Following a promotion in 1998, Martin became the Head of the Leeds and Wakefield Criminal Justice Units in 2000.
In 2004 he became Chief Crown Prosecutor (CCP) for Cleveland, in 2007 moved to CPS Direct, the CPS’ national out of hours service providing advice and charging decisions to police. In April 2011, Martin became CCP for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside and in February 2017 he was appointed Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West. Martin is the national lead CCP for victims and witnesses issues.
Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, Ian Rushton
Ian has worked for the Crown Prosecution Service since it began in April 1986, having been in private practice in Manchester prior to joining the former Prosecuting Solicitor's Department with Greater Manchester Police.
A Senior Crown Prosecutor in the City of Manchester until January 1993, Ian was then promoted to Assistant Branch Crown Prosecutor for Sheffield in South Yorkshire. He progressed to Branch Crown Prosecutor, and held similar posts in Preston and East Lancashire before moving to Cheshire in November 2005 as the Chief Crown Prosecutor. He was appointed to the post of CCP for Lancashire in March 2010 and in April 2011 became one of two Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutors (DCCPs) of the larger North West Area.
Ian has been heavily involved in the recruitment of legal trainees and the development of the CPS Proactive Prosecutor courses, a key element of all Crown Prosecutors' training. He has a national responsibility for Violence Against Women issues, which includes rape and serious sexual assault cases. Ian was educated at The Manchester Grammar School and is a graduate in Law from the University of Nottingham.
Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, Elizabeth Jenkins
Elizabeth was called to the Bar in October 1995 and was in private practice in London until November 2000 when she joined the then Solicitor's Office of Customs and Excise in Manchester.
In September 2010, following the merger with the CPS, she joined the International Justice and Organised Crime Division North as a Senior Specialist Prosecutor and in March 2015 took up her post within the Serious Fraud Division as Deputy Head of Division.
Elizabeth joined CPS Yorkshire and Humberside as Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor in June 2017 where she initially managed the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team and Complex Casework Unit before moving to take over responsibility for the Crown Court teams based in Hull, Leeds and Sheffield. In July 2019 she moved to CPS North West as the Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor with responsibility for all Magistrates’ Court cases.
Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, Joanne Cunliffe
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.
Area Business Manager, Caroline Staveley
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.
Magistrates’ Court Unit Toggle accordion
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.
Crown Court Unit Toggle accordion
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.
Complex Casework Unit Toggle accordion
The Complex Casework Unit prosecutes the most complex and sensitive cases in the area, including organised crime cases and cross-border crime.
Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) Unit Toggle accordion
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 Toggle accordion
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.