CPS recognised for delivering prosecutorial excellence by Law Officers
Source: gov.uk (2025-03-27)

Prosecutors from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have taken first prize for both the individual and team categories at the Prosecuting Team and Prosecutor of the Year Awards.

The Law Officers have announced the winners of the Prosecution Team and Prosecutor of the Year Awards 2024.

Amanda McInnes, Senior Crown Prosecutor for the CPS, has been awarded Prosecutor of the Year, and CPS’s Mersey Cheshire Disorder Response Team won Prosecution Team of the Year.

The winners were presented their awards at an event on Wednesday 26 March 2025. The Attorney General Lord Hermer KC made the opening remarks, and the Solicitor General Lucy Rigby KC MP presented the awards.

The Attorney General said:

Prosecutors perform a vital role in protecting the public and are central to this Government’s commitment to reduce crime as part of the Plan for Change.

Both Amanda and CPS’s Mersey Cheshire Disorder Response Team are worthy winners. From prosecuting serious underage sexual offences cases to playing an important role in the response tackling the violent disorder following the murders in Southport, their work has protected victims and kept our streets safe.

I would like to also congratulate all the nominees for their excellent work, which benefits us all and increases public trust.

The awards were open to prosecutors and teams who are members of the Whitehall Prosecutors’ Group and signatories to the 2009 Prosecutor’s Convention, including the Environment Agency, the Insolvency Service, and the Food Standards Agency.

Prosecutors were asked to focus on one significant, complex, or sensitive case or an effective ongoing relationship between one or more signatories.

CPS’s Amanda McInnes was nominated after she prosecuted 33 suspects of child sexual exploitation. Over four years, between December 2020 and October 2024, through Amanda’s work on difficult and complex cases, CPS convicted 29 people and secured sentences totalling 394 years imprisonment.

Also shortlisted for the Prosecutor of the Year included Senior Crown Advocate for the CPS, Jeremey Evans, and James Lester-Ashworth, Senior Lawyer for the Care Quality Commission.

The team winner, CPS Mersey Cheshire Disorder Response Team, played an integral role during the violent disorder that broke out following the murders in Southport. The CPS team prosecuted offenders responsible for the violent disorder, working collaboratively with the police and courts, while also covering regular work. Their work helped keep the streets safer and reassured the public at a challenging time.

Other teams shortlisted for Prosecuting Team of the Year included the Environment Agency for prosecution of Bio Dynamic, the Insolvency Service for prosecution of R v Kirkbride, as well as the CPS’s Operation Incendiary Team, and Southwest Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team.

Stephen Parkinson, Director of Public Prosecutions at the Crown Prosecution Service, said:

I am immensely proud of our hardworking prosecutors who are instrumental in delivering justice every day for victims of crime. Both the Mersey-Cheshire Disorder Response Team and Amanda are hugely deserving of this accolade.