Board Members
Frank Whiteley Chief Constable Hertfordshire Constabulary (CHAIR)
Frank Whiteley was born in 1956, in Huddersfield, Yorkshire. Frank joined the Police Service in 1978, as the only Police Service graduate in Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic Studies. He served 18 years with Cambridgeshire Constabulary. This included ten years patrol work at Peterborough and Cambridge, as well as attending the Accelerated Promotion Course at the Police Staff College (1982), then a period as Operations Manager at Peterborough, followed by a 6- month secondment to Holloway Division, Metropolitan Police Service (1993). Frank also worked as Force Crime Prevention Officer, Head of Strategic Policy and as Detective Superintendent, Crime Support. Frank Whiteley transferred to Northamptonshire on promotion to Assistant Chief Constable (Operations) in 1997. He was then made Assistant Chief Constable (Designate) in October 1998 and his title changed to Deputy Chief Constable in January 2002. Particular interests in Northamptonshire have included Community Policing, Crime Reduction, call handling, quality of service initiatives and improving forensic processes, as well as involvement in management development training in Force. Between June – October 2004 Frank returned to the role of Force Operations Manager, with a remit to improve the focus on volume crime performance. Frank was appointed Chief Constable for Hertfordshire in October 2004. At a National level, Frank has been involved with the introduction of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and the National Crime Recording Standard. He is currently Chair of the ACPO Automatic Numberplate Recognition Steering Group, which aims to “deny criminals use of the roads” and is the police service lead officer for Neighbourhood Watch issues.
Tom Rees Assistant Director Hertfordshire Youth Justice Service
Tom grew up in Norfolk leaving to do a first degree and social work qualification at the University of Bath. Love of the area led to joining the Avon Probation Service and subsequent promotions took him to Wiltshire, West London and finally to Assistant Chief in North East London service. Whilst there he completed an MBA In 1999, following the Crime & Disorder Act 1998, Tom joined Hertfordshire County Council as Assistant Director for Youth Justice and has been responsible for the now established Youth Justice Service.
Mike Littlewood Area Director Beds, Herts and Essex Magistrates Court Service
Mike joined the Lord Chancellor's Department in 1967 and initially worked at Mansfield County Court. Through promotions he moved to Nottingham County Court, Birmingham Crown Court, the Midland and Oxford Circuit Office, Birmingham County Court, Northampton County Court and Northampton Combined Court.
He moved to Chelmsford in 1993 as the Courts Administrator as the Essex Area Director of Her Majesty's Courts Service, responsible for all Magistrates' Courts, Crown Courts and County Courts across the county. Mike chaired the Essex Criminal Justice Board from its inception until end of March 2006. Mike was appointed the Area Director of the New Beds, Herts and Essex Area late October 2006, joining the Hertfordshire Criminal Justice Board in November 2006.
Mike is married with four children and was awarded the OBE in the 2004 New Year Honour's list in recognition of his services to the department for Constitutional Affairs.
Tessa Webb Chief Probation Officer
Tessa began her career in Oxfordshire Probation Service (now part of Thames Valley Probation Area) in 1980 and has worked in a wide range of operational and managment positions in London and Essex.
Prior to joining Hertfordshire Tessa was Deputy Head of Public Protection for the National Offender Managment Service based at the Home Office. She specialised in leading the implementation of the Multi-Agency Public Protection Agency Arragements (MAPPA) for high-risk offenders and been responsible for leading the Risk of Harm improvement strategy. Tessa contributed to the Child Sex Offender review in 2006 and presented on behalf of the Probation Service at the International Dangerous Offender Conference in Ottawa. Tessa joined Hertfordshire Probation Area as Chief Officer in December 2006.
Damian Evans Governor of HMP The Mount
Damian joined the Prison Service on the Accelerated Promotion Scheme in 1992 and worked at HMYOI Aylesbury and HMP Bullingdon before becoming a Governor Grade in 1995. He then worked at Prison Service College Newbold Revel, HMP Grendon and Spring Hill and HMP Swaleside before completing Deputy Govenrnor posts at HMP and YOI Low Newton and HMP Whitemoor. Damian was the Governor of Morton Hall from June 2004 to January 2007.
Richard Pleydell-Bouverie Independent Member (shown on the left in the picture)
Richard was born in 1947, educated at Harrow and The Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. Richard has lived in Hertfordshire since 1970 where he farms 400 arable hectares and 80 hectares of grassland.
Richard is due to retire this year as President of the Herts & Middx Branch of the Country Landowners Association having served the Association both nationally and locally for many years.
Richard has been a Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire since 1991 and was High Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1998/9. Richard is President of HACRO [Herts Association for the Care & Resettlement of Offenders] which works to help offenders both in prison and when they are released and he was also President of Victim Support Hertfordshire from 2000 until it merged to form a national charity.
Richard became a director of the Shuttleworth Trust in 2004 and now Chair its Estates & Property committee which has the responsibility of looking after Old Warden Estate near Biggleswade in Bedfordshire.
Richard was Chairman of the Joint Appeal Committee for the Abbey and Cathedral of St Alban in St Albans from 2000 – 2006 and is now a member of the Cathedral Council and was a Director of the Rothamsted Research Association until 2005. Richard was a Trustee of the Visitor's Centre Association at the Mount Prison until 2003, and used to be a member of the Management Committee of Drugcare in St Albans.
Richard has been married to Victoria, since 1978, with two surviving children. His interests are mostly to do with the countryside and all forms of natural history with a particular interest in ornithology. Richard enjoys traveling and has been to Africa on safari on many occasions and always makes sure that he takes his binoculars with him wherever he goes!
David Robinson Chief Crown Prosecutor
David began his career as a police officer before being called to the Bar in 1993 when he joined the Severn-Thames Crown Prosecution Service. After working as a Crown Prosecutor then Senior Crown Prosecutor and qualifying as a Higher Court Advocate, David joined CPS Berkshire in 2000 as head of a busy Crown Court Unit. He undertook secondments as Special Casework Lawyer and Head of Crown Court Advocacy and led the Area’s HCA deployment initiative. In 2005 David was appointed Head of Performance for Thames Valley CPS overseeing seven prosecution teams and projects such as the OBM pilot. Between October 2008 and April 2009 he acted as Temporary Chief Crown Prosecutor for Warwickshire CPS and in May 2009 took up the post as Chief Crown Prosecutor of CPS Hertfordshire. During 2009 he was appointed as a Deputy District Judge (Magistrates’ Courts).
Andrew Taylor Legal Services Commission
Andrew represents the Legal Services Commission (LSC) on Hertfordshire Criminal Justice Board. The LSC is responsible for administering legal aid in England and Wales, including making sure someone accused of a criminal offence has access to legal advice at a Police Station or in court.
Having joined the organisation in 1986, he is now responsible for managing relationships with legal aid lawyers in Hertfordshire. He also works closely with other Criminal Justice Agencies in Hertfordshire to make sure the LSC gets value for money, paying for criminal legal aid, and that people who need help receive a high quality service."