Board members
Denise White
Chief Officer, Derbyshire Probation Area and Chair of the Board
Denise undertook her degree at the University of Cambridge and subsequently undertook postgraduate studies at the University of Manchester. She worked for Greater Manchester Probation Area for many years in a variety of roles, both as a practitioner and manager. She was appointed Chief Officer of Derbyshire in 2005.
Mick Creedon
Chief Constable, Derbyshire Constabulary
Mick has 27 years police service and prior to taking up the position of Chief Constable in October 2007, he was Deputy Chief Constable and National Co-ordinator for Serious and Organised Crime for the Association of Chief Police Officers.
Mick is also the ACPO lead for Proceeds of Crime and Asset Recovery and also for Kidnap and Extortion. He joined Derbyshire from Leicestershire Constabulary where he served as a senior investigating officer for a number of years and was head of the Specialist Crime Department.
Dee Collins
Assistant Chief Constable, Derbyshire Constabulary
Dee undertook her degree in Metallurgy and Mechanical Engineering in Manchester, after which, she applied to join Cleveland Police in 1987. Dee quickly specialised in Road Policing and became the first female officer to work for Cleveland’s Armed Response Team. In 2000, Dee undertook an overseas secondment where she worked as an EXPO in Hannover, Germany.
In 2002, Dee was promoted to Superintendent where she became the Operations Manager within Redcar and Cleveland Basic Command Unit (BCU). She then transferred to Cumbria Constabulary in 2005 where she took up the role of BCU Commander in the South.
Dee completed the Strategic Command Course in December 2006 and successfully applied for an Assistant Chief Constable position at Derbyshire Constabulary. She took up the post on April 2nd as ACC Support which involves a portfolio including Human Resources, Criminal Justice and Call Handling.
Brian M Gunn OBE
Chief Crown Prosecutor, Crown Prosecution Service Derbyshire
After graduating in law from the University of Hull in 1972, Brian qualified as a solicitor in 1975. He worked in private practice before moving to Nottinghamshire County Prosecuting Solicitor's Office and later transferred to the Crown Prosecution Service [CPS] in 1986 as a senior Crown Prosecutor.
After serving in the Leicestershire Office, in 1990 he was appointed as a special casework lawyer dealing with the area's most serious and complex cases. In 1996 he was appointed as a Branch Crown Prosecutor for the County Branch and then six months later for the combined City and County Branches. From 2000, Brian headed up the Nottinghamshire CPS trial unit and was the area champion and trainer for the prosecution of Racially and Religiously aggravated crimes.
Brian also served as acting Chief Crown Prosecutor in Nottinghamshire before being appointed as temporary Chief Crown Prosecutor for Lincolnshire in October 2003. On the 5th April 2004, following a national recruitment campaign he was appointed as the Chief Crown Prosecutor for Derbyshire.
Mark Swales
Area Director for HMCS Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire and Chair of the Performance Management Group
Mark joined the West Midlands as the acting Area Director in January 2006 having been Area Director for Leicestershire and Rutland since September 2004. He has recently been appointed as Area Director for Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire in the latest HMCS re-organisation.
Prior to that, Mark was, for a short time Director of Administration for Nottinghamshire Magistrates Courts on secondment from DCA where he had been working in various roles within the Unified Courts Administration and Criminal Enforcement Programmes following his return from a 12 month secondment to CAFCASS during that organisation’s first 18 months of operation.
During his 23 years within the Lord Chancellors Department (now DCA), Mark has also worked in County Courts in both administrative and management roles, as a trainer and training manager, as Performance and Finance Officer in Western Circuit Office and in a number of roles within what was the Magistrates' Courts Division of the Lord Chancellors Department.
Andy Thomas
Acting Director of Derby Community Safety Partnership
Andy undertook his MA in criminal justice and social studies at Leicester University, graduating in 1993. He then worked for Nottinghamshire County Council in a variety of roles, including youth justice and dealing with high-risk offenders.
In 2002, Andy joined Derby Youth Offending Service (YOS) as manager of the Anti-Social Behaviour Team. He continued in this role when the YOS became a key team within Derby Community Safety Partnership (CSP), which was established in 2003. One year later, Andy was appointed as Head of Service for Anti-Social Behaviour, leading on issues such as Derby’s Prolific and Priority Offender scheme.
From 2006, Andy’s responsibilities within the CSP focused on building safer and stronger communities in Derby, including the development of neighbourhood-based working, enhancing community cohesion and preventing violent extremism.
In June 2008, Andy was appointed as Acting Director of Derby Community Safety Partnership.
Bob Smith
Head of Youth Offending Service (County)
Bob is qualified as a social worker and youth worker. He began working with young offenders in 1981 on a joint Prison and Probation Service programme designed to improve the transition from custody to community in north-east England. Since then he has worked as a youth justice practitioner and manager for a number of organisations including NCH and Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Social Services Departments.
He became one of the first Youth Offending Team (YOT) Managers to be appointed following their creation by the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act, when he managed the pilot YOT in St Helens, Merseyside. Bob has been Head of Derbyshire Youth Offending Service since 2001.
Elaine Annable
Criminal Defence Service Manager
Elaine joined the Legal Services Commission, formerly the Legal Aid Board, in 1991. She became Criminal Defence Service Manager in 2004 and is also a member of the Senior Management Team of the East Midlands Legal Services Commission, based in Nottingham.
Elaine has managed duty solicitor schemes for over ten years and contracts with local legal aid suppliers from private practices since 1999. Previously, she worked in private practice and for the Probation Service at Nottingham Magistrates' Court.
Linda Cross
Victim Support Chief Executive
Linda spent many years working in Canada in restorative justice with First Nation people. She is a qualified lawyer with an LLM in Conflict Resolution and has previously worked for seven years with the Youth Offending Service in the City delivering restorative justice.
Linda is now Chief Executive of Victim Support Derbyshire and admits that over the last few years, there have been great advancements in relation to victims and witnesses’ needs.
Sally Bradley
Community Safety Manager, Derbyshire County Council
Sally took up the post of Community Safety Manager for Derbyshire County Council in November 2007. The community safety unit is part of Safer Derbyshire, which includes the Youth Offending Service, Drug and Alcohol Action Team, Fire Service, Police liaison and Adult Social Services liaison for vulnerable adults. Currently Sally is working with the Safer Derbyshire Management team and others partners on priorities to improve life for local people in Derbyshire which include violent crime, including domestic and sexual violence, anti-social behaviour and alcohol issues.
Previously Sally was Derbyshire Criminal Justice Board's Business and Performance Manager. She has also worked for Derbyshire Probation Service, Derbyshire Constabulary, both as a police officer and as a civilian and in private legal practice.