Breaking barriers: Reflections from CPS lawyers who became judges
Are you a CPS lawyer considering what might come next in your career?
Join us for an online discussion exploring judicial careers, the judicial appointments process, and the experiences of former CPS lawyers who have gone on to judicial office
The discussion will explore:
- what prompted the speakers to consider judicial appointment;
- how their experience at the CPS prepared them for judicial roles;
- the realities of the application process;
- practical advice for those considering applying; and
- the support, resources and opportunities available to those considering judicial appointment.
This seminar brings together judges from a range of jurisdictions and professional backgrounds to share their personal experiences of applying for judicial office, the challenges they encountered, and what they learned along the way.
Whether you are actively considering an application or simply curious about judicial careers, this seminar offers a valuable opportunity to hear honest reflections, ask questions, and learn more about the pathways into judicial office.
The Panel
Chair Judge Mark Angus is currently assigned to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal as the Acting Principal Judge. He has been a District Tribunal Judge in the Social Security and Child Support chamber since January 2018. He was a criminal solicitor/ solicitor advocate for most of his career and had no previous judicial experience prior to this appointment. State educated, he left school and college with very average grades and began his legal career at 18 as an administrative assistant at the Crown Prosecution Service. He qualified as a solicitor after studying at night school while working full-time and raising a family. Becoming a judge was never something he expected, and he is passionate about ensuring others have equal opportunities, regardless of their background.
Mark now serves as a Diversity and Community Relations Judge, Focal Point Judge, and Diversity and Inclusion Lead for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Chamber. He has also completed a post Graduate Diploma in Equality and Inclusion in Society.
Our panel will include:
HHJ Charlotte Crangle was called to the Bar in 1995 and practised criminal law from chambers in Manchester until 2012, when she joined Manchester CPS as a Senior Crown Advocate. One of the factors in her decision to move in-house was the predictability of working location and income while raising a young child as a single parent.
Because CPS in-house advocates cannot sit in the criminal jurisdiction as Recorders or Deputy District Judges, her judicial career began with appointment as an Assistant Coroner in Derbyshire in 2019, followed by becoming a full-time District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) in April 2023. Later that year, she took up appointment as a Circuit Judge at Liverpool.
DJ(MC) Joseph O'Connor practiced as a defence solicitor for 8 years before joining the CPS. He variously was an advocate in the magistrates' court, a litigator in the Crown Court, a legal manager in the Crown Court and a legal manager in the Proceeds of Crime Unit. He also did a three-year secondment at HMCPSI. In 2022, while at HMCPSI, he was appointed a fee-paid judge in the health and safety tribunal. In 2024 he was appointed a District Judge (magistrates' court) and currently sits in Staffordshire.
Judge Kate Gaskell started as a Pupil Barrister in 2012 at the CPS in Manchester. In 2018, she became a Crown Advocate in Merseyside and Cheshire, prosecuting trials across a broad spectrum of offences in Liverpool Crown Court before returning to Manchester in 2020.
Kate was appointed as a fee-paid Tribunal Judge in HESC (Mental Health) in 2020. She is passionate about mentoring others and has recently finished her first experience as a Pupil Supervisor. She has found the crossover between criminal and mental health law incredibly interesting, and both areas help to inform the other.
DJ Joanne Cronshaw
Representatives from the Judicial Appointments Commission will also be on hand to provide information about the appointments process and available support.