Defiant Alison Saunders insists it was her decision to quit as head of Crown Prosecution Service amid mounting criticism

Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions
Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions Credit: Daniel Leal-Olivas /PA

A defiant Alison Saunders, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), has insisted it was her decision to walk away from the role after Whitehall sources said the Government had declined to extend her contract.

Ms Saunders will end her term as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) after five years in the autumn after a number of controversies which have included the collapse of a series of rape trials.

But Ms Saunders dismissed claims that the Government had made it clear it did not want her to remain in post as she said she had “told them that I would not be asking for an extension”.

Daniel Janner, a criminal law QC whose father Lord Janner of Braunstone was controversially pursued by...

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