2:54pm Tuesday 16th March 2010
By Claire Hack
THE chief prosecutor for London has promised to work with police and courts to improve services after a damning report on falling conviction rates in the capital.
Alison Saunders, who took over as head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in London in December, said the report highlighted a number of areas that need improvement.
The report, by Her Majesty’s Crown Prosection Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI), showed prosecutors were failing in their core duty to bring criminals to court.
But Ms Saunders added: “There were 134,389 people successfully prosecuted in London in 2009 and 2660 of those people committed crimes in Redbridge.
“That’s a lot of people who have broken the law and have been brought to justice by the Crown Prosecution Service to face the consequences of their actions.”
She acknowledged that crime is a “big concern” in London and also admitted the CPS needed to prepare cases more quickly in order to get them to court.
She said: “To do that, we are moving more staff from central roles out to the front line, we are recruiting more lawyers and we are training more staff to do the preparation work needed for cases coming to court.”
Ms Saunders also insisted the CPS is willing to do all it can to encourage victims to attend court, including using special measures such as screens around witness boxes.
She also said the Complex Casework Unit, which deals with the most serious crimes, had been rated “good” by the inspectorate.
“The work being done to deal with the most serious offenders is what we want to replicate in every single borough,” Ms Saunders said.
She added the actions highlighted are currently being put into place and results are expected soon.
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