NEWS RELEASE
30 September 2009
NEW DISTRICT PROCURATOR FISCAL FOR DUMBARTON AND CAMPBELTOWN
The Lord Advocate, the Right Honourable Elish Angiolini QC has appointed Laura McPherson to the post of District Procurator Fiscal for Dumbarton and Campbeltown.
The Lord Advocate said:
"I am delighted to confirm the appointment of Laura McPherson as the new District Procurator Fiscal for Dumbarton and Campbeltown. Since joining COPFS 11 years ago, Laura McPherson has gained a wealth of experience and has become a well-respected and valued member of the prosecution service. She was previously the Procurator Fiscal in Greenock and an advocacy trainer.
"Our team in Dunbartonshire has an excellent record for listening to the communities it serves and responding to their needs and concerns. Laura McPherson has the drive, determination and enthusiasm to build on the effective relationships with our criminal justice partners in the area and will assist us in delivering justice and bringing benefits to local communities."
Laura McPherson said:
"I am very pleased to have been appointed to this challenging post and am looking forward to leading the strong, dedicated team of prosecution staff serving the people of Dunbartonshire and Argyll & Bute. We as prosecutors act in the public interest at all times, so getting to know and understand the local communities here and gaining their confidence will be high on my agenda.
"I look forward to working closely with Strathclyde Police, the Scottish Court Service and all the other criminal justice agencies in the area, to ensure that myself and my team consistently deliver a first class prosecution service, dealing swiftly, efficiently and effectively with the perpetrators of crime, and making our towns and villages better and safer places in which to live."
Note to editors:
1. Miss McPherson graduated from Glasgow University with a First Class honours degree in law in 1997 and joined the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in 1998 as a trainee solicitor, working for two years in the Crown Office in Edinburgh, and the Procurator Fiscal's Office in Ayr.
2. She was appointed to the post of Procurator Fiscal Depute in Kilmarnock in August 2000 where she was based for four years, including a one year secondment in 2002 to the Procurator Fiscal's Office in Hamilton where she worked as a key member of the COPFS team responsible for the investigation and prosecution of Transco following the Larkhall Gas explosion in 1999.
3. Miss McPherson was promoted to the post of Principal Procurator Fiscal Depute at Ayr in November 2004, and in August 2007 she returned to work in the Crown Office in Edinburgh as part of the COPFS Communications team.
4. She was promoted to the post of District Procurator Fiscal for Greenock and Rothesay in October 2008.
5. Miss McPherson was then appointed on temporary promotion to the post of Interim District Procurator Fiscal for Dumbarton and Campbeltown in March this year, following the retirement of her predecessor in that post, David Spiers.
6. The Dumbarton and Campbeltown Procurator Fiscal Offices deals with approximately 10,000 cases a year and cover the Sheriff Court jurisdictions of Dumbarton and Campbeltown.
7. In her post as District Procurator Fiscal, Dumbarton, Miss McPherson will have management responsibility for the prosecution of crime across a wide geographic jurisdiction corresponding with the boundaries of 'L' Division of Strathclyde Police which incorporates the Sheriff Court Districts of Dumbarton, Oban, Dunoon and Campbeltown.
8. Miss McPherson is 33 years old.
Contact: Communications
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