South East
CPS South East is currently maintaining core business functions, while doing all we can to minimise in-person contact.
Please communicate with us by email, telephone and secure digital media wherever possible. Royal Mail and other post delivered to our offices will be checked periodically, but normal mail response times cannot be guaranteed.
Email addresses:
If you are a member of public, you can use the following email addresses without including .cjsm.net, which will work only for members of the Criminal Justice Secure Mail system. DO NOT use these addresses to send sensitive information unless via .cjsm.net.
Crown Court work
Email: SE.CrownCourt@cps.gov.uk.cjsm.net
Magistrates' Court Unit work:
Email: SE.MagistratesCourt@cps.gov.uk.cjsm.net
Telephone:
Please dial 01227 866000 and select Option 1 for cases being heard in the magistrates' court, Option 2 for cases being heard in the Crown Court, Option 3 for the Victim Liaison Unit and Option 4 for any finance queries.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the main prosecuting authority in England and Wales.
The CPS has 14 Areas across the country, each headed by a Chief Crown Prosecutor and the South East Area is responsible for prosecuting cases in Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
We serve over 4.5 million people and the geographic area we cover is spread over 3,700 square miles, including major entry points to the UK, such as London Gatwick Airport, the Channel Tunnel and the Port of Dover.
CPS South East is headed up by Chief Crown Prosecutor Frank Ferguson, who is supported by Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutors Adele Kelly and Sarah Dineley and Area Business Manager Ceri Moggridge.
We have around 300 members of staff, consisting of lawyers, paralegal officers and Operational Delivery Professionals. Our staff work out of offices in Canterbury, Brighton, Guildford, as well as a small remote team in Newcastle and Middlesbrough.
We also have an Area Business Centre, which includes specialist business support and administrative functions such as human resources, finance, communications and performance, all of which help to support the rest of the business.
Executive Team Toggle accordion
Frank Ferguson, Chief Crown Prosecutor
Frank Ferguson took up the role of Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS South East in November 2018.
Frank, a barrister, joined the CPS in 1992 as a legal trainee in the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Area. He then became a Higher Courts Advocate and Unit Head in Norwich, before moving to CPS Direct between 2004 and 2006 as a legal manager.
He was Chief Crown Prosecutor in Cambridgeshire from 2010 and subsequently Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for the East of England, with direct oversight of the most serious and complex cases.
Prior to joining CPS South East, he was Deputy Head in the Specialist Fraud Division with responsibility for London, before moving to the Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division as Head of Special Crime.
Frank has led national projects, such as the implementation of the Speaking to Witnesses at Court Guidance and is national lead for immigration crime.
Adele Kelly, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor
Adele joined the CPS in 2004 from private practice in the City, where she specialised in commercial and insurance litigation matters. She was initially a casual prosecutor in the Thames and Chiltern area, before becoming a substantive Crown Prosecutor and then Senior Crown Prosecutor.
She moved across to the Crown Court Team, before deputising as District Crown Prosecutor (DCP) and then taking up the role on a substantive basis in 2014, moving to CPS London to lead the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) Team.
She returned to CPS Thames and Chiltern in June 2017, as Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor (DCCP) with responsibility for Magistrates’ Court work before taking up her current role as DCCP in the South East in May 2018.
Sarah Dineley, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor
Sarah joined the CPS in 2007 as a Crown Advocate, before being appointed as a District Crown Prosecutor, heading up the Crown Court team in CPS Wessex the following year. Prior to joining the CPS, Sarah was a criminal defence solicitor and duty solicitor in Hampshire and a regular advocate in the Crown Court and Magistrates’ Court.
Sarah joined CPS South East in October 2017 as the Senior District Crown Prosecutor in charge of the Crown Court teams in Kent, Sussex and Surrey.
Sarah studied Law and French and attended Grenoble University for a year and has a keen interest in cases involving foreign jurisdictions. She is the International Casework Lead for the area.
Ceri Moggridge, Area Business Manager
Ceri joined the CPS as the Area Business Manager for the South East in April 2020.
Ceri’s career in the Civil Service began in 2015 when she joined as a Fast Track Apprentice in Business and Business Administration. She initially worked in projects and recruitment within Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) based in Cardiff.
She then joined the Operational Delivery Profession cross-government team, supporting the 250,000 civil servants within the profession. This national team focused on supporting capability building, qualifications, apprenticeships, community building and talent management of the largest profession in government.
In 2018, she was promoted to Head of Business Management and Private Secretary, where she led on all elements of business planning, private office, finance, secretariat and governance.
Following completion of her Apprenticeship, she elected to study first a Postgraduate in Advanced Leadership and latterly a Masters in Strategic Leadership in Management and is now a proud member of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), remaining very committed to Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for both herself and her teams.
Magistrates’ Court Team Toggle accordion
The Magistrates’ Court Team is made up of prosecutors, supported by a team of administrators, who help to ensure cases are prepared digitally and ready for court. Our prosecutors either work as advocates in the Magistrates’ Courts across Kent, Surrey and Sussex or in one of our offices preparing cases where we anticipate people will plead not guilty and the case will go to trial.
Crown Court team Toggle accordion
The Crown Court team has prosecutors and a team of paralegal and administrative staff, who help to prepare cases. The majority of prosecutors in this team review cases and ensure they are ready for court, but we have a team of Crown Advocates, who prosecute cases in the Crown Court.
Complex Casework Unit (CCU) Toggle accordion
Our Complex Casework Unit (CCU) deals with the most complex cases in the South East and handles one of the largest volumes of complex cases in the country. Their work includes dealing with human trafficking, cross border crimes, “cold case” murders, fatal road collisions, sudden infant death, substantial fraud, money laundering and major public disorder offences.
Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) Team Toggle accordion
Our Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team (RASSO) is staffed by specially trained lawyers and paralegal officers and they handle rape cases, including attempted rape, along with child sexual abuse cases, including historic cases and all other serious sexual offences.
Working with you
CPS South East is committed to providing the best possible service we can to victims and witnesses in our cases, as they are vital in helping us to bring people to justice.
We work with the members of our Local Scrutiny Involvement Panels to improve the prosecution process as a whole. They are made up of community representatives and invited members from other agencies in the criminal justice system, such as the police. One panel looks at hate crime, while the other focuses on violence against women and girls. They both review our performance and randomly selected cases to see where improvements can be made.