Ken Macdonald

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Sir Kenneth Donald John Macdonald, QC (born 4 January 1953)[1][2] is Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of England and Wales.[3] In that office he is ex officio head of the Crown Prosecution Service. He was previously a recorder (part-time judge) and defence barrister.

[edit] Biography

He read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Edmund Hall, Oxford from 1974.[4] During his time at Oxford he was convicted of supplying cannabis after sending 0.1 g of the drug through the post.[5] He pleaded guilty, and was fined £75.[5] He became the first pupil of barrister Helena Kennedy,[5] was called to the Bar from the Inner Temple in July 1978[6] and became a Queen's Counsel in 1997.[7] As a junior barrister he defended a number of terrorist suspects (both Provisional IRA and those from the Middle East), fraudsters and major drug dealers, he was also on the defence team for the Matrix Churchill trial.[5] In the late 1990s, he was a co-founder of Matrix Chambers (a law firm specialising in Human Rights cases) with Cherie Booth and Tim Owen QC.[5] In 2001 he became a recorder (a part time judge) in the Crown Court.[8]

In August 2003 it was announced that Macdonald would succeed Sir David Calvert-Smith as DPP in October of that year.[9][10] The appointment was immediately denounced by Opposition spokesmen as "rampant cronyism" and a "provocative appointment" due to Macdonald's business relationship with Cherie Booth (wife of then Prime Minister Tony Blair) and his lack of prosecution experience.[9] Government officials, including both the Attorney General and Solicitor General defended the appointment as it had been made by an independent board consisting of First Civil Service Commissioner Baroness Prashar; Sir Hayden Phillips, Permanent Secretary at the Department for Constitutional Affairs; Sir David Omand, Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office; and Sir Robin Auld, Lord Justice of Appeal.[9][11] A few days after the announcement the press uncovered details of his earlier conviction, sparking fresh controversy.[10][5] Macdonald also clashed with then Home Secretary, David Blunkett over plans for longer prison sentences, provoking further press coverage.[12][13] Not all coverage was so negative, with a fellow lawyer, David Pannick QC, writing in The Times defending Macdonald's appointment, and attacking the tabloid campaign against him;[14] Macdonald's predecessor also dismissed the relevance of the drugs offence;[15] and a report in The Independent also found support for the appointment from within the legal system.[16] A later leader in The Guardian was also broadly supportive of his record in office.[17]

He was awarded a knighthood in the 2007 New Year Honours.[18]

Preceded by
Sir David Calvert-Smith		 Heads of the CPS
2003–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent

[edit] References

  1. ^ Birthdays (Archive service requires subscription). The Guardian. Guardian Media Group (4 January 2008). Archived from [www.guardian.co.uk the original] on 2008-01-05. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  2. ^ Who's Who, passim
  3. ^ Director of Public Prosecutions: Sir Ken Macdonald QC. CPS website. CPS (Crown Copyright). Retrieved on 2007-10-12.
  4. ^ The College > Famous Graduates > Sir Ken Macdonald QC. St Edmund Hall website. St Edmund Hall (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-12.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Clare Dyer. "Prosecutor or protector?", The Guardian, Guardian Media Group, 2004-02-10. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  6. ^ The Bar Directory: Kenneth John Douglas Macdonald. The Legal Hub. Thomson Global Resources, data supplied by the Bar Council (2007). Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
  7. ^ London Gazette: no. 54736, page 4476, 15 April 1997. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
  8. ^ London Gazette: no. 56414, page 14589, 11 December 2001. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
  9. ^ a b c Sparrow, Andrew. "Cherie's colleague is named as DPP", The Daily Telegraph, 11 August 2003. Retrieved on 2008-01-09. 
  10. ^ a b Brogan, Benedict. "Cherie's 'crony' not fit to be DPP, says Howard", The Daily Telegraph, 5 August 2003. Retrieved on 2008-01-09. 
  11. ^ Hansard, Written answers, Director of Public Prosecutions. Hansard. Parliament of the United Kingdom (17 September 2003). Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
  12. ^ Blunkett plan for longer prison terms is 'grotesque', says DPP (Archive service requires subscription). The Daily Mail (2 September 2003). Archived from [www.dailymail.co.uk the original] on 2003-09-03. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  13. ^ A bleeding heart, the criminal's best friend (Archive service requires subscription). The Daily Mail (12 September 2003). Archived from the original on 2003-09-13. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  14. ^ Pannick, David. "Why tabloids' silly campaign against the DPP is so wrong", The Times, Times Online, September 2, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-01-09. 
  15. ^ Verkaik, Robert. "Sir David Calvert-Smith: The butler, his evidence and a delicate issue of calling the Queen as a criminal case witness", The Independent, 3 November 2003. Retrieved on 2008-01-09. 
  16. ^ Verkaik, Robert. "Public persecution", The Independent, September 2, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-01-09. 
  17. ^ Leader. "In praise of ... Sir Ken Macdonald", The Guardian, Guardian Media Group, January 25, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-01-09. 
  18. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58196, page 1, 30 December 2006. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
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