Thames and Chiltern
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutes cases that have been investigated by the police and other investigative organisations in England and Wales.
CPS Thames and Chiltern is one of 14 CPS areas across the country and we are responsible for prosecuting cases in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
We work in partnership with our three regional police forces - Hertfordshire Constabulary, Bedfordshire Police and Thames Valley Police - the courts, the judiciary and other partners to deliver justice. However, we are independent, and make our decisions independently of the police and other agencies.
Chief Crown Prosecutor Lisa Ramsarran is the head of CPS Thames and Chiltern, and she is supported on the legal side by Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Chris Derrick, who has responsibility for Crown Court cases, and Olivia Rose, who has responsibility for magistrates' court cases. Robert Lucey is our Area Business Manager, who is responsible for business and operational delivery functions across our Area.
We have around 300 members of staff who are based in St Albans, Reading and Liverpool. Our workforce is made up of legal and operational delivery staff who all play a part in bringing criminal prosecutions to court. And we have an area business centre which includes specialist business support and administrative functions such as human resources, finance, communications and performance, all of which help to support the rest of the business.
Lisa Ramsarran - Chief Crown Prosecutor
Lisa became Chief Crown Prosecutor of CPS Thames and Chiltern in July 2024 and has overall responsibility for all our criminal prosecutions in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire.
Starting her career with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as a legal trainee in 1996, Lisa progressed to Senior Crown Prosecutor and Unit Head for the Brighton Justice Unit while working in the South East. In 2006, she took on the role of Borough Crown Prosecutor for Croydon in South London.
Lisa returned to CPS South East as a District Crown Prosecutor, holding roles in the Early Guilty Plea team and the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) unit. Her promotion to Senior District Crown Prosecutor saw her work in both the Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court teams, before becoming Head of the Complex Casework and RASSO team.
In July 2019, Lisa joined CPS London North as Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, firstly heading up the Area’s Magistrates’ unit and then the RASSO team and the pan-London Homicide team.
Chris Derrick - Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor (Crown Court)
Chris is our Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Thames and Chiltern with responsibility for Crown Court performance.
In his role, Chris oversees the work of the Crown Court Team and the Complex Casework Unit. He is also our local lead for disclosure, unduly lenient sentences and is our point of contact for coroners.
Chris graduated from studying Law at the University of Bristol in 2001 and went on to pass his Bar exams at the University of Northumbria. He initially worked in the Bank of Scotland’s Business Banking division providing legal advice, before joining Her Majesty’s Courts Service in Dyfed-Powys as a legal advisor in 2004, where he was involved in with both criminal and family law.
Chris cross qualified as a solicitor and joined the CPS in 2008 as one of our senior crown prosecutors. In 2012, he became a district crown prosecutor leading the Magistrates’ Court Team then the Crown Court Team. After a short time as our digital project manager, he returned to a casework role as a district crown prosecutor in the Crown Court Team. In 2016, Chris became the head of the Complex Casework Unit, and subsequently led both this team and the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit. He was appointed to his current role in 2019.
Robert Lucey – Area Business Manager
Robert is our Area Business Manager and has responsibility for delivering the operational business across our Area.
As well as having oversight of all our business functions, Robert is responsible for staff and financial management, performance monitoring and the implementation of all our operational business systems. Working alongside our Chief Crown Prosecutor, Robert’s role is to ensure the appropriate resources are in place for our Area team to operate effectively and efficiently.
Robert joined the Crown Prosecution Service as a paralegal and has held several different roles since then. In 2005, he developed and implemented the CPS very high cost case fee scheme to ensure costs in our most complex and expensive cases are effectively managed and audited. Robert became a senior policy advisor in the CPS advocacy strategy programme in 2007, leading on the extension of associate prosecutor powers and external regulation. And in 2010, he established the CPS Appeals and Review unit which conducts appeals against sentence and conviction.
In 2014, Robert became a division business manager, and he joined the Specialist Fraud Division as Area Business Manager in 2017. He took up his current role with CPS Thames and Chiltern in October 2023.
Our Magistrates’ Court Team prosecutes offences including assaults, domestic abuse, criminal damage, possession of drugs, minor public disorder, minor traffic offences (excluding those dealt with by the police as police-led prosecutions), and commercial burglary.
This is not an exhaustive list, but the team is generally responsible for offences where the maximum permitted sentence for each offence does not exceed six months' imprisonment, or one year if two or more relevant offences are to be considered.
The Crown Court Team deals with cases such as murder, robberies, serious assaults, dwelling house burglaries, complex fraud, the supply and trafficking of drugs, and the most serious road traffic offences.
The serious nature of these offences mean they have to be tried before a jury or heard at the Crown Court because the magistrates’ court do not have sufficient sentencing powers for these crimes.
Our Complex Casework Unit (CCU) deals with the most complex cases in our area. The team of experienced specialist lawyers, paralegal officers and operational delivery staff work in collaboration with our three police forces to tackle serious, organised and cross-border crime across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire.
Offences dealt with by the CCU include human trafficking, large-scale drugs importation, cold case murders, serious fraud and money laundering.
Our dedicated Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) Team deals with rape cases (including attempted rape), child sexual abuse cases, serious sexual offences and allegations of perverting the course of justice or wasting police time which arise from false accusations of rape and domestic violence.
All our lawyers who work on rape and serious sexual offences prosecutions are specialists who are highly trained in the complexities of these cases, and they will prosecute them whenever our legal test is met.