Born and educated in North Wales, Paul was a student in Liverpool before being called to the bar in 1977. Following a short period in chambers he entered the Magistrates Courts Service in 1980, initially at Liverpool City Magistrates before moving to Cheshire. In 1985 he joined the newly formed North Wales Police Prosecuting Solicitors’ Office, transferring to the CPS in 1986. He became Branch Crown Prosecutor for the Marches Branch in 1992 and for the North Wales Branch in 1997. He was appointed Chief Crown Prosecutor for North Wales in 1999. Throughout his CPS career he has been active as a trainer and in representing the CPS nationally on a number of inter-agency working groups. He has been closely involved with the piloting of a number of the recent reforms, including Direct Communication with Victims, CPS Charging, Pre Trial Witness Interviewing, Community Justice and Conditional Cautioning. Between December 2002 and October 2004 he was on secondment to CPS HQ leading on delivery of statutory charging in the priority areas. He took up post as Chief Crown Prosecutor for Merseyside in October 2004. He remains closely involved with developments in charging and conditional cautioning.