Board Member profiles
The SCJ Board consists of representatives from seven Agencies across Sussex:
Sarah Jane Gallagher, Chief Crown Prosecutor
Crown Prosecution Service
Chair of the Sussex Criminal Justice Board
Sarah Jane graduated in law from Durham University in 1975 and was called to the bar in 1976. She is a scholar of the Inner Temple and was the first woman tenant in the chambers of William Howard QC at 3 King’s Bench Walk, practising at the Criminal Bar on the South East Circuit.
Following a career break to have 3 daughters, Sarah Jane joined the Crown Prosecution Service in Devon and Cornwall in 1991. During her time in Devon and Cornwall she was the CPS area champion for domestic violence, rape and youth offenders, and as a Higher Court Advocate prosecuted regularly in Plymouth Crown Court.
Sarah Jane took up her appointment as Chief Crown Prosecutor for Sussex in December 2003. She is the Chief Crown Prosecutor national Policy lead on Domestic Violence and leads for the CPS South East Group on Violence against Women. Sarah Jane also sits on the CPS Professional Standards and Ethics Group.
Sarah Jane was elected Chair of the Sussex Criminal Justice Board in 2005
John Hawkins, Head of Youth Offending Services
East Sussex Youth Offending Team
John Hawkins has been Head of Youth Offending Services in East Sussex since 1999. After graduating from Sussex University in 1974, John trained in Scotland as a social worker. He returned to East Sussex in the late 1970s and specialised in child care work for many years. Since 1988 he has held a variety of management positions in East Sussex culminating in his appointment to the post of Head of Youth Offending Services.
In April 2006 John joined the Sussex Criminal Justice Board as the representative of the three Youth Offending Teams in the county.
In addition to his local responsibilities, John is also active at national level in the field of youth offending work. He is a founder member of the AYM (Association of Youth Offending Team Managers) and is currently Treasurer of the Association. He is the portfolio holder for Referral Orders, Restorative Justice and New Legislation and in this capacity represents the Association on a number of national working groups.
Rob McCauley, Criminal Defence Manager
Criminal Defence Service
After graduating from St Catharine's College, Oxford University in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, Rob worked in accountancy before joining the Inland Revenue.
He joined what was then the Legal Aid Board, the forerunner of the Legal Services Commission, in 1993. He worked on the development of quality assurance for Legal Aid suppliers. From 2000 he managed
contracts in Kent and Sussex.
Rob was appointed to the role of Criminal Defence Service Manager in 2005 and joined the Sussex Criminal Justice Board in 2006.
In addition to his role in Sussex, Rob is also responsible for Criminal Defence services in Surrey and Kent where he also sits on the Criminal Justice boards.
Julia Eeles, Area Director for Sussex and Surrey
Her Majesty's Court Service Chair of the SCJB Effective Case Management sub-group
Julia Eeles is a solicitor by profession, having qualified in private practice in Birkenhead in 1982.
She joined the Magistrates’ Courts Service as a legal advisor in Ipswich and in due course moved on to Nottingham, Southend-on-Sea and finally to Cheltenham.
In 1993 Julia joined HM Magistrates’ Courts Service Inspectorate as a Senior Inspector. In 1998 she was appointed as Justices’ Chief Executive for Cleveland and in 2001 took up the same post in Cheshire. Julia was appointed as Area Director for Cheshire in 2005 and was recently appointed as Area Director for Surrey and Sussex in November 2006.
Nick Wilkinson, Assistant Chief Constable, Sussex Police
Nick Wilkinson joined Sussex Police in 1981 and served across both East and West Sussex in a variety of roles including chairing the South East Regional Traffic Officers Committee as head of Sussex police Road Policing Unit.
With a strong operational background Nick has performed the critical roles of Force Silver Firearms and Accredited Gold Commander.
In 2006 he was promoted to Chief Superintendent and took on the role of Divisional Commander, East Sussex Division where he lead the Division through two significant critical incidents, a Counter Terrorism operation at a Faith school in Mark Cross, and the explosion of the Festival Fireworks Factory in Ringmer. Nick also played an integral part within partnership development of Local Area Agreements.
In April 2009 Nick was appointed Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for the Operational Support portfolio which includes the IS Department, the Community & Justice Department, the Communications Department and the IMPACT Programme
Robin Merritt, Assistant Chief Constable, Sussex Police
Vice-Chair of the Sussex Criminal Justice Board and Chair of the SCJB Victims, Witnesses, Domestic Violence and Confidence sub- group
Robin joined Sussex Police as Assistant Chief Constable on 2 April 2007. His new role gives him responsibility for East Sussex Division, Brighton & Hove Division, Communications Department, Criminal Justice Department and Neighbourhood Policing.
Prior to joining Sussex served in the Metropolitan Police Service, both in uniform and as a detective and was the Borough Commander for Bexley in South East London. Whilst there he led one of the pilot sites for the national reassurance teams across London and neighbourhood policing nationally. He also led one of the Home Office modernisation pilot schemes, which examined how an entire command unit could be reconfigured.
Before taking on this command served as Staff Officer to the Director of HR in the MPS. In this role he had a great deal of contact with the MPS BPA and at a national level. He also mentored a number of officers who were active in the BPA.
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Chief Officer, Sussex Probation Area
Sonia Crozier was appointed chief officer of Sussex Probation Area in June 2008 and has a background of more than 20 years' probation experience.
Sonia began working as a probation officer in London in 1988 and has since gained extensive experience throughout the service, including working as a senior officer at Maidstone prison, managing unpaid work and serving as a district manager in Kent. For the last two years she has held a senior post at the Home Office and Ministry of Justice with a brief of improving the performance of probation areas throughout the England and Wales.
Also from Sussex Police:
Chief Supt Peter Coll, Head of Criminal Justice Department and leading on victim and witness service delivery
Also from CPS Sussex:
Tim Thompson, District Crown Prosecutor, Brighton Trials Unit, leading on criminal asset recovery.
Rodney Warren, Solicitor
Rodney Warren is a solicitor who runs a large criminal defence, family law and civil litigation law firm based in Eastbourne and London. Rodney is Director of the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association and a member of the Council of The Law Society. He is a member of the Criminal Justice Council and lectures widely as well contributing regularly on television, radio and in the press.