Spike in gang-related killings ‘adding to workloads of prosecutors’

PROSECUTORS ARE facing a substantial increase in their workload due to the rise in gangrelated killings.

Lawyers for the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) Homicide Unit have seen their casework grow by 10 per cent to 20 per cent in each of the last four quarters. New Director of Public Prosecutions Max Hill highlighted the pressures caused by the number of murders in the capital.

In his first speech in the role, Mr Hill told members of the Criminal Bar Association last night that increased resources were being put into prosecuting murder cases. “No one will be unaware of the frequency of murders, particularly in London, often involving the use of knives and sometimes firearms – about 120 so far this year, with a new wave over the last week or so,” he said.

“It is heartbreaking to see images of victims in the news.Young lives are being lost while bereaved families suffer the indescribable shock of such a sudden tragedy.”

He said more lawyers had been seconded from other areas of t he CPS to help handle the workload.

Closer working relationships were also being established with police teams, he said.

Earlier this year, Mr Hill’s predecessor Alison Saunders apologised when it was revealed prosecutors were forced to drop 47 serious sex offence cases after key information was not passed on to defence teams.

Addressing the issue, Mr Hill said his aim was to build “public confidence and trust in the CPS”.

“I fully accept that mistakes have happened and that we will rightly be criticised and questioned when things go wrong,” he said.