Wessex
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 Wessex Region consists of the counties of Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and Wiltshire.
Chief Crown Prosecutor Rose Marie Franton is the head of CPS Wessex, supported by Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Sophie Stevens.
Emma Tebbutt, the Area Business Manager has responsibility for Business and Operational Delivery functions across the region.
We currently employ 219 members of staff, including lawyers, paralegals, administrators and specialist staff.
Our Senior Management team, Business Centre, Crown Court, Crown Advocacy Support team and Complex Casework Unit are based in Eastleigh.
We also have a team of in-house Crown Advocates and court support legal staff covering the three counties.
Rose-Marie Franton - Chief Crown Prosecutor
Rose-Marie started her career prosecuting for the CPS in St Albans, gaining a wide range of experience before joining what was later to become the Counter Terrorism Division in London in 2004, where she prosecuted terrorism, race hatred, and Official Secrets Act cases including numerous high-profile cases, and in 2009 she was appointed Unit Head of the Counter Terrorism Division.
In 2012 she joined the Organised Crime Team, now known as the Serious Economic, Organised Crime and International Directorate (SEOCID) to lead the ‘phone hacking’ prosecutions that arose from the investigation into the News of the World and was appointed Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor in May 2017. In September 2021 and March 2022, respectively, she joined CPS London South and CPS Mersey-Cheshire as Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor.
Rose-Marie was temporarily promoted as Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Wessex in April 2023.
Sophie Stevens, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor
Sophie joined the CPS in 2006 leaving her work as a defence solicitor having qualified and worked in Hong Kong.
Before taking up her post as Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, she was the Senior District Crown Prosecutor and Head of Complex Casework Unit and Rape and Serious Sexual Offence Unit. She is the Area lead for Disclosure and also the International Casework Lead.
Sophie has led Wessex in the RASSO Tri-force action plan and is committed to improving our service to all. In her spare time she enjoys open water sea swimming (all year round) and enjoys life in Portsmouth with her partner and their two dogs.
Emma Tebbutt, Area Business Manager
Emma has been Area Business Manager for CPS Wessex since October 2018.
Emma's civil service career began in 2000, with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) as an advisor to the long-term unemployed. She then worked in operational lead roles, including time with the Disability Employment Strategy team with the DWP in London.
Further roles followed, including Partnership Manager for one of the most deprived boroughs in London, supporting a smooth transition of Welfare Reforms and working to support young people in the borough affected by gang issues.
Emma moved to the Ministry of Defence in September 2014 as a Customer Service Manager for Defence Business Services (DBS), supporting Front Line Commands (Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and Joint Forces Command). From March 2017, Emma became DBS Transformation Assistant Head.
She joined the CPS in September 2018.
Our Crown Court team is mainly based at our offices in Eastleigh. They are responsible for dealing with cases involving serious offences which have to be tried by a jury, or where the magistrates’ courts do not have sufficient sentencing powers for the seriousness of the crime.
Casework includes murders, robberies, serious assaults, dwelling house burglaries, complex fraud, the supply and trafficking of drugs, and the most serious road traffic offences, especially those that result in a fatality.
Our magistrates’ court team is mainly based at our Portsmouth Offices, with two support teams based at our Chippenham and Eastleigh offices. They are responsible for prosecuting a wide range of offences, generally those for which the maximum sentence is six months' imprisonment.
Casework includes domestic abuse, assaults, hate crimes, criminal damage, minor public order incidents, minor traffic offences (excluding those dealt with by the police as police-led prosecutions), possession of drugs, dangerous dog offences and commercial burglaries.
Our Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) Unit is a dedicated specialist team which prosecutes cases such as rape, serious sexual assaults and child abuse. The lawyers in this team, which is based in our Portsmouth office, are all specially trained and fully understand the sensitivities of prosecuting cases of this nature.
The CPS Wessex Complex Casework Unit handles our most serious and high profile cases. These can include murders, large-scale child abuse or abduction.
Our specialist prosecutors in the Wessex Fraud Centre deal with offending that has taken place in London, Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex, Kent, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Wiltshire and Hertfordshire.
Casework includes fraudulent claims for Student Loads, Child Maintenance, Tax Credits, Disability Living Allowance and the fraudulent evasion of duty by selling prohibited or restricted goods.