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Stephen Lawrence barrister to become director of public prosecutions Stephen Lawrence barrister to become director of public prosecutions
(about 5 hours later)
A barrister who oversaw the conviction of Stephen Lawrence's killers and was praised for her work during the London riots is to become the top prosecutor in England and Wales.A barrister who oversaw the conviction of Stephen Lawrence's killers and was praised for her work during the London riots is to become the top prosecutor in England and Wales.
Alison Saunders, the chief crown prosecutor for London, will be only the second woman to become director of public prosecutions (DPP) when she replaces Keir Starmer later this year.Alison Saunders, the chief crown prosecutor for London, will be only the second woman to become director of public prosecutions (DPP) when she replaces Keir Starmer later this year.
Saunders, who has been at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) since its inception in 1986, was recently made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace for her work during the London riots.Saunders, who has been at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) since its inception in 1986, was recently made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace for her work during the London riots.
As violence flared across London and then the rest of England in the summer of 2011, Saunders and her colleagues were said to have worked around the clock to deal with offenders who were being arrested by police. As violence flared across the capital and then other English cities in the summer of 2011, Saunders and her colleagues were said to have worked around the clock to deal with offenders who were being arrested by police.
It is the first time the CPS has appointed an internal candidate as DPP, and only the second time a woman has held the position, one of the most senior criminal justice roles in the country. The late Dame Barbara Mills, who held the post from 1992 to 1998, was the first female DPP. However, the Hillsborough Family Support Group expressed concern at the appointment because in 1996 Saunders, then a lawyer in the attorney general's office, gave advice that an application for a new inquest into the deaths be refused. The inquests were finally quashed last year.
Announcing Saunders's selection, the attorney general, Dominic Grieve QC, said the internal appointment was proof "of the high quality of the professionals" in the CPS. "Alison will make an excellent director of public prosecutions and is the right person to help the CPS meet the challenges it will face in the coming years," he said. It is the first time the CPS has appointed an internal candidate as DPP, one of the most senior criminal justice roles in the country. The late Dame Barbara Mills, who held the post from 1992 to 1998, was the first female DPP.
"I am particularly pleased that Alison is the first head of the CPS to be appointed from within its ranks as proof of the high quality of the professionals that work within the service." Announcing Saunders's selection, the attorney general, Dominic Grieve QC, said the internal appointment was proof "of the high quality of the professionals" in the CPS. "Alison will make an excellent director of public prosecutions and is the right person to help the CPS meet the challenges it will face in the coming years," he said. "I am particularly pleased that Alison is the first head of the CPS to be appointed from within its ranks as proof of the high quality of the professionals that work within the service."
Saunders, who will serve a five-year term, said she would continue to implement reforms to improve the performance of the CPS and the wider criminal justice system. Saunders, who will serve a five-year term, said she would continue to implement reforms to improve the performance of the CPS and the wider criminal justice system. "I look forward to carrying on with the fantastic work that Keir Starmer QC has undertaken, ensuring the CPS further improves and continuing with reforms, both within the CPS and more widely in the criminal justice system," she said.
"I am delighted and privileged to be appointed as the next director of public prosecutions. To lead an organisation of committed and professional staff is an honour, especially having worked for the CPS since its inception," she said. Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died at Hillsborough, called for Saunders to meet the bereaved families and reassure them that her view of Hillsborough had changed since 1996.
"I look forward to carrying on with the fantastic work that Keir Starmer QC has undertaken, ensuring the CPS further improves and continuing with reforms, both within the CPS and more widely in the criminal justice system." In her new role Saunders will be responsible for considering new investigations into Hillsborough and its aftermath, and decide whether criminal charges should be brought against any people or organisations found to be responsible for the 96 deaths, or in alleged police malpractice that followed.
Saunders began her career at Lloyds of London following a pupillage in a common law set, before joining the CPS in 1986. In her 30-year career she has developed an expertise in issues involving child victims and witnesses. In 2001, she became chief crown prosecutor for Sussex, and oversaw the prosecution of Roy Whiting for the abduction and murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne. Aspinall said: "She was one in a long line of people who had blinkers on about what the families were fighting for, the injustice of the inquest, and in preventing us going forward."
In 2005, she became head of the CPS organised crime division and in 2009 was appointed the chief crown prosecutor for CPS London, which deals with around 20% of CPS work. A CPS spokesperson said: "The CPS has made it clear that it intends to have on going contact with the bereaved families and their representatives, in order to ensure they remain fully informed and that any views they have can be listened to."
Saunders' role in refusing an appeal against the original 1991 verdict of accidental death is set out in the report by the Hillsborough independent panel, chaired by James Jones, the bishop of Liverpool, published in September last year.
She advised in 1996 that there was no new evidence substantial enough to overturn the original coroner's ruling, that evidence of what caused 96 people to die should be limited to events up to 3.15pm on the day of the disaster. That 3.15pm "cut-off" was based on medical evidence that all the victims had received irreversible injuries by that time.
The cut-off was finally discredited by the independent panel, which found that 41 of the victims might have been saved after 3.15pm with the right medical response.
Saunders began her career at Lloyds of London following a pupillage in a common law set, before joining the CPS in 1986. In her 30-year career she has developed an expertise in issues involving child victims and witnesses.
She became chief crown prosecutor for Sussex in 2001, and she oversaw the prosecution of Roy Whiting for the abduction and murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne. In 2005 she became head of the CPS organised crime division, and in 2009 she was appointed the chief crown prosecutor for CPS London, which deals with about 20% of all CPS work.