Terror supremo to restore reputation of troubled CPS
BRITAIN’S terror watchdog vowed to restore the battered reputation of the Crown Prosecution Service, after he was revealed as its new director.
Max Hill QC will take over as Director of Public Prosecutions from Alison Saunders, whose five years in the post have been dogged by blunders and legal fiascos, including the collapse of a series of rape cases.
A high-ranking criminal barrister, Mr Hill successfully prosecuted the failed 21/7 London tube bombers in 2005 and the Real IRA terrorists who car-bombed the BBC in west London in 2001. Another key moment in his career was the jailing of the killers of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor in 2006.
The two thugs had evaded justice for six years after fatally stabbing the little boy in Peckham, south London.
Mr Hill, who has been the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation since March 2017, will take up his new role in November.
He described his appointment as an “honour”, but added: “This is a challenging time for the CPS, with the rise in complex cases and negative publicity about its handling of disclosure in some cases.
“I have seen first-hand the sterling work of the CPS and I am determined to restore public trust in its work.”
Mrs Saunders has been heavily criticised over the years. In 2015, she faced calls to resign after she decided not to prosecute seriously ill Labour peer Lord Janner over historic sex abuse allegations – a judgment that was later overturned.
But the worst crisis to hit the CPS on her watch was the “disclosure scandal” in which innocent men were put on trial or kept on bail for months after police and prosecutors failed to hand vital evidence to defence lawyers.
As a result, every live rape and serious sexual assault prosecution in England and Wales was reviewed and 47 were dropped.
Last week, the Commons Under fire... DPP Alison Saunders Justice Select Committee criticised her over the fiasco, citing “insufficient focus and leadership”. Supporters of Mrs Saunders, 57, point to her successes as a senior CPS lawyer. They include the prosecution of David Mulcahy – one of Britain’s worst serial sex attackers – who was jailed for life in 2001 after he was found guilty of three murders, seven rapes and five other attacks. She leaves her £250,000-a-year post at the end of October to join top law firm Linklaters. Educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, Mr Hill, 54, was called to the Bar in 1987 after reading law at Oxford and appointed a QC in 2008. The father of two is married to actress Heather Coombs. Announcing the appointment, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said: “I’m very grateful to him for taking on these onerous responsibilities. “I am confident he will be a good collaborative leader of the CPS and a principled and strongly independent chief prosecutor.”