Alison Saunders standing down as Director of Public Prosecutions

Alison Saunders is stepping down as the Director of Public Prosecutions. Credit: PA

  • Video report by ITV News Correspondent Juliet Bremner

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DDP) Alison Saunders is to stand down in the autumn at the end of her five year term of office, the Government has announced.

Attorney General Jeremy Wright said Ms Saunders would leave in October, and that the search for her replacement would begin immediately.

The 57-year-old's tenure in the post has been marked by a series of controversies - most recently over the collapse of a series of rape trials, leading to a review of every rape case in the country.

The Government sought to play down reports that ministers had declined to extent her contract, noting that only one of her predecessors had served for longer than five years.

In a statement Mr Wright said: "I want to thank Alison personally for her service, not only as DPP but as an accomplished CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) prosecutor whose successful record includes the prosecution of Stephen Lawrence's killers.

"I have no doubt that she'll be greatly missed within the organisation."

However, The Daily Telegraph quoted an unnamed Whitehall source as saying that "it was made clear that her contract would not be extended" because it was felt a "clean break" was needed.

Ms Saunders also dismissed the suggestion she was being ousted from her position, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "They haven't said that to me at all.

"I told them that I wouldn't be asking for an extension, I was leaving at the end of my five years, so it has not been an issue for discussion."

She said that she had already decided to move on to a private law firm in October before informing the Government of her decision.

"It was my decision to leave," she said.

"DPPs serve a term of five years. I was clear that five years was a good term to serve and I have already decided what I will be doing when I leave in October."

Ms Saunders, who will join the multinational law firm Linklaters, said it had been a "tremendous privilege" to be the first DPP to be appointed from within the CPS.

"My priority over the next six months is to keep driving improvements in how we work, with a sharp focus on casework quality," she said.

"Key to that will be working alongside the police and other partners to find long-term solutions to the disclosure issues that exist throughout the entire criminal justice system."