Barbara Mills
QC | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Director of Public Prosecutions | |
| In office 1992–1998 | |
| Preceded by | Sir Alan Green |
| Succeeded by | Sir David Calvert-Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Barbara Jean Warnock 10 August 1940 Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, England |
| Died | 28 May 2011 (aged 70) |
| Resting place | Highgate Cemetery, London, England |
| Political party | Labour[citation needed] |
| Spouse |
St. Helen's School |
| Alma mater | Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford |
| Occupation | Barrister |
Dame Barbara Jean Lyon Mills
Early life and education
She was born in
Career
Mills was
She became a
She was Director of the
From 1992 to 1998 she was Director of Public Prosecutions, the first woman to hold that position. As DPP she also served as the second head of the Crown Prosecution Service, with 6,000 staff considering the prosecution of 1.4 million cases each year. During her term in this office, levels of bureaucracy in the CPS were high and morale was low.[8] She worked to increase the efficiency of the CPS, and introduced victim impact statements.
After a report by the West Yorkshire Police into abuses at the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad, she agreed that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any of the officers at the squad, a decision for which she was widely criticised.[9] She was criticised when the CPS declined to prosecute suspects for the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993. She resigned in 1998 after she was criticised in reports by Gerald Butler and Sir Iain Glidewell for repeatedly refusing to bring prosecutions over deaths in police custody.[10] She also ordered a 75-year embargo restriction on the Devon and Cornwall Police Investigation of failures by West Midlands Police in the Birmingham 6 scandal of 1974. On 1 June 2016 the Coroner re-opened the inquests after a 42-year adjournment a decision opposed by West Midlands Police.
She was appointed as
Mills also held a number of other public appointments. She was governor of
Personal life
Mills married
Death
Dame Barbara Mills died on 28 May 2011, aged 70, after suffering a stroke 12 days earlier. She was survived by her husband, their four children, and eight grandchildren.[2][8] Her ashes are interred in Highgate Cemetery (west cemetery).
References
- ^ a b c Dame Barbara Mills, obituary in The Independent (London), 7 June 2011
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/103837. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "LMH, Oxford - Prominent Alumni". Retrieved 22 May 2015.
- ^ Dame Barbara Mills, first100years.org.uk
- ^ David Mills: The networker, The Independent, 25 February 2006
- ^ "Tessa Jowell's husband David Mills jailed for four years over Silvio Berlusconi bribe", The Daily Telegraph (London), 18 February 2009
- ^ "Background: Tessa Jowell, David Mills and Silvio Berlusconi", The Guardian (London), 17 February 2009
- ^ a b c d Dame Barbara Mills, obituary in Daily Telegraph, 29 May 2011
- ^ Statewatch 1992, p. 3, Morton 2011
- ^ Clare Dyer (10 February 2004). "Prosecutor or protector?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
- ^ Adjudicator's Office
- ^ Dame Barbara Mills obituary The Guardian (London), 29 May 2011.
Sources
- Statewatch (September 1992). "Thirteen released" (PDF). Statewatch Bulletin. 2 (5).
- Morton, James (29 May 2011). "Dame Barbara Mills obituary: Barrister and first female director of public prosecutions". Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
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