Criminal cases that the Crown Prosecution Service take to court are in the news every day. This section also covers many issues related to our work, including violence against women and girls, hate crime, support for victims and witnesses, statistics, and speeches by the Director of Public Prosecutions and other senior staff.
Latest news
You can find our latest news stories here and search for older stories. You can also find more information about high-profile cases and the work of the CPS.
Working with the media
To make criminal court reporting more open, the CPS, police, and media representatives created a joint protocol (agreement) for working together. We are currently working on an updated version of the protocol.
Showing 1 - 10 of 27 results for area "South West"
The Crown Prosecution Service has today announced that James Desborough, 39, has been charged with the murder of prisoner Steven Kempster, 65, at HMP Exeter on Monday 15 September.Helen Phillips from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute James…
A senior surgeon from Cornwall, who fraudulently claimed over £466,000 in insurance payouts after his legs were amputated due to self-inflicted injuries, has been sentenced to 32 months in prison today.Andrew Neil Hopper, 49, who was a Consultant Vascular Surgeon at the Royal Cornwall Hospital,…
A man who ran a teeth-whitening salon in Plymouth has been convicted of a series of rapes and sexual assaults against seven women, including customers of the salon.Ricky Stubberfield, aged 31, carried out the attacks over a period of eleven years between 2013 and 2024.Some of the assaults took…
Originally published on 3 April 2025A woman from Gloucestershire has been sentenced to 15 years for the manslaughter of her baby daughter.In April 2020, shortly after the start of the Covid 19 lockdown, Melissa Wilband, 28, was living with her two young children, a two-year-old boy and five-month…
A 92-year-old man has been given a life sentence and told to serve at least 20 years in prison after he was convicted of the murder and rape of Louisa Dunne - one of the oldest cold cases to ever be solved in the UK.Ryland Headley from Ipswich, who was living in Bristol at the time of the murder,…
A man has been jailed for life, with a minimum term of 26-years and 277-days, for the murder of Plymouth University lecturer Claire Chick.Paul Butler, 53, pleaded guilty to Claire’s murder at a hearing on 18 March and was sentenced today at Plymouth Crown Court.Claire was attacked on West Hoe Road,…
A former Devon and Cornwall police officer has today been given a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years for leaking sensitive information on multiple cases to her friends and family.Samantha Hill, 33, from Plymouth pleaded guilty to 18 offences of misconduct in public office at Bristol…
A former Olympic swimmer and trainee police officer, who represented Great Britain at the 2012 London Games, has been jailed at Plymouth Crown Court for raping two teenage girls. He has also been placed on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life.Antony James, 35, was today sentenced to…
A man who left an abusive voice message for MP Naz Shah has today been sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months after pleading guilty to a public communications offence at Taunton Magistrates’ Court. He also received a five-year restraining order, banning him from contacting Ms Shah…
A 22-year-old man has been jailed for four years for the sexual assault and attempted rape of a woman in Cheltenham.Mohammed Sanana was sentenced at Cheltenham Crown Court on Friday 7 December, 2024. He had been convicted of the offences by a jury on 11 November.Laura Opie of the Crown Prosecution…
Press ReleaseSexual offencesSouth West
Press Office contact details
Please note that our Press Office is NOT able to deal with issues or queries from members of the public - these contact details are for accredited journalists ONLY. Do not call this number unless you a member of the press. For all general enquiries, please visit contact.cps.gov.uk.
If you are a national or international journalist with a media enquiry, you can contact the CPS Press Office on 020 3357 0906 or email [email protected] (9am-5pm weekdays only).
For out-of-hours media enquiries please call 020 3357 0906 to reach the duty press officer.
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Policy updates from the Director of Public Prosecutions and other prosecutors;
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Content that explains the role of the CPS and how we work
Highlighting of relevant work by our criminal justice partners and other stakeholders
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Media protocol
To ensure greater openness in the reporting of criminal proceedings, the CPS, the police and media representatives developed a joint protocol for working together. We are currently in the process of updating the protocol.
