Board Members
Temporary Chair of Merseyside Criminal Justice Board,
John Stafford, Chief Probation Officer
John Stafford was appointed Chief Officer of Probation for Merseyside in April 1999.
John began his career with the Greater Manchester Probation Service as a trainee probation officer in 1974. He underwent his professional training at the University of Manchester 1975-6 where he obtained an Advanced Post-Graduate Diploma in Economic and Social Studies, followed by the Post-Graduate Diploma in Social Work (CQSW) 1976-7 at Manchester Polytechnic. He then worked as a probation officer in inner city Manchester and with the Homeless Offenders Unit.
Appointed Deputy Chief Probation Officer for Lancashire in April 1994, he was responsible for Personnel and Operations. He co-established the Burnley-Dordrecht Prolific Offender Project in 1997 which became the prototype for future intensive support and surveillance schemes. John was also on the national ACOP Group for Finance and for the What Works initiative.
On Merseyside, John is currently Deputy Chair of the Connexions Board and Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee. He is Deputy Chair of the Merseyside Criminal Justice Board and was Chair of its forerunner, the Chief Officers’ in Criminal Justice Group between 1999-2002. John is lead Chief and Accountable Officer for the North West Regional Training Consortium. He is a member of the National Joint Prisons Probation Interventions Strategy Board and the Learning and Skills for Offenders Project Board.
Jon Murphy, Chief Constable, Merseyside Police
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Jon Murphy joined Merseyside Police in January 1975. He served in the Force up to the rank of Chief Superintendent when he left Merseyside to join the National Crime Squad as Assistant Chief Constable, Head of Operations in 2001. In this role he was responsible for national and international operations and led, for the UK, in the establishment of the first European Joint Investigation Team (JIT). He returned to Merseyside Police in 2004 as Deputy Chief Constable.
In September 2007 he was asked by the Home Secretary to lead the Ministerial Task Force - ‘Tackling Gangs Action Programme’ (TGAP).
In April 2008 he became the ACPO National Serious & Organised Crime Coordinator where he led on a programme of work set to deliver on work commissioned by the newly established Organised Crime Partnership Board.
In February 2010 Jon took up his current position as Chief Constable of Merseyside Police.
Jon has been a career detective serving as an investigator in every rank. He is an experienced Senior Investigating Officer having led homicide investigations, corruption enquiries and covert operations. He has extensive experience of command of firearms operations and critical incidents.
He read Law at Liverpool University and has a postgraduate Criminology Diploma from Cambridge. In 1995 he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and worked in the USA with the FBI and other policing agencies researching covert policing methods. He is the ACPO portfolio holder for both Serious and Organised Crime and Telephone Interception.
Jon has been commended on 14 occasions and was awarded the Queens Police Medal in the 2007 Birthday Honours.
Paul Whittaker, Chief Crown Prosecutor of CPS Merseyside 
Born and educated in the Wrexham area of 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 amalgamated North Wales Branch in 1997. He was appointed Chief Crown Prosecutor for North Wales in 1998.
Throughout his CPS career he has been active as a trainer and in representing the CPS nationally on inter-agency working groups. He has been closely involved with the piloting of a number of the recent reforms. Between December 2002 and October 2004 he was on secondment to CPS HQ as Charging Project Director.
He took up post as Chief Crown Prosecutor for Merseyside in October 2004.
He is a member of the Conditional Cautioning Programme Board and has been closely involved in work on both the new Code of Practice and Director’s Guidance for Conditional Cautioning.
Patricia Gallan, Assistant Chief Constable, Merseyside Police
Awaiting Update
Carole Hudson, Chief Executive of St. Helens Metropolitan Borough Council.
Carole Hudson has been Chief Executive of St. Helens Council since 1991 and received the CBE for her services to regional and local government in 2007. 
During her 19-year tenure as Chief Executive, she successfully led St.
Helens to become the first designated ‘Excellent’ Council on Merseyside.
During this time St. Helens has been transformed into a vibrant and growing
economy. Recognition of this was underlined when the Borough was selected
as a City Growth Pilot by the Chancellor - one of only six in the country.
Mrs Hudson is currently responsible for
- 4 North West – The Regional Leader’s Forum
- Developing the first City Growth Area in the Country
- A highly successful Partnership with St. Helens Chamber of Commerce
- Leading Regional Spatial Strategy for the North West
- Leading the Housing and Planning Policies of the Liverpool City
Region
- Developing the first highly successful Partnership Improvement
Network with the Voluntary Sector
- National Policy Advisor on Third Sector Development
- Representing City Region on the Criminal Justice Board
Paul McGladrigan, Area Director, HMCS Merseyside & Cheshire
Having worked for HMCS since its inception in 2003, Paul took up post as the HMCS Area Director for Cheshire and Merseyside on 8 February 2010.
On joining HMCS Paul initially led the organisation’s national enforcement programme which worked with the courts to deliver a number of changes (legislative and non-legislative) aimed at delivering significant improvement in performance, including the Courts Act enforcement sanctions. He then joined the HMCS London Region in July 2006 to take up the newly created post of Director of Enforcement. In this role Paul’s main objective was to deliver the operational changes required to improve performance in relation to fine enforcement and the resolution of community penalty breaches, working closely with the London Criminal Justice Board and CJS partners.
Prior to joining HMCS Paul worked for the Department for Work and Pensions. While working in the social security system Paul undertook a number of roles ranging from frontline operations to more central responsibilities like planning and finance and the major programme of change that led to the introduction of new tax credits in April 2003.
Alan Brown, Governor, HM Prison Liverpool
Alan joined the Prison Service in 1972 and since then has served in a number of prisons around the Country, namely Northumberland, Durham, Kent, Lancashire, London and Yorkshire. In addition to Prison Officer and Deputy Governor roles, Alan also served for a period at HM Prison Headquarters leading the implementation team for the replacement of 24,000 PCs and delivery of a new IT system to the Prison Service. This was hailed as the first successful Government IT programme.
Graduating with a Diploma in Management studies from Leeds Metropolitan University in 1995, Alan also holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Open University.
He was appointed as Governor of HMP Preston in 2002, and in 2005 as Governor of HMP Liverpool.
Alan is married with two sons. His wife is currently Governor of HMP Haverigg in Cumbria.
Aileen Shepherd, Head of Service for Liverpool Youth Offending Service 
Born in Glasgow and educated in Edinburgh and Leeds, Aileen undertook her post graduate Diploma in Social Work at Liverpool. She joined the probation service in Merseyside and worked as a probation officer and senior probation officer in a number of settings across the county including courts, community supervision, day training and family court welfare.
In 1998 she was appointed to Greater Manchester Probation Service as district manager for Bury and Rochdale where she worked with both those local authorities in establishing their Crime and Disorder reduction partnerships. Her particular interest has been in child protection and public protection arrangements. In 1999 Aileen was appointed to establish the youth offending service in Cheshire where she was a member of Cheshire Criminal Justice Board and the Connexions board.
In 2003 she was appointed to Liverpool as Head of Youth Offending Services where her priority has been to develop a service that delivers to both the criminal justice and children’s agendas. She is a member of the Citysafe Board, the Children and Young Peoples' Partnership Board and the Merseyside Community Justice Board.
Nic Johanson, Area Relationship Manager, Legal Services Commission Northern Region
Awaiting Update