Blundering CPS chief Alison Saunders quits after seeing millions spent on botched probes
Saunders leaves her £250,000-a-year role with a £1.8million pension - and is joining a private law firm
CHIEF prosecutor Alison Saunders is stepping down after a string of rape case blunders.
She has also overseen several disastrous CPS investigations that have cost taxpayers millions.
Pressure grew this year after a rape case against student Liam Allan, 22, was thrown out when it emerged police sat on 40,000 texts from his accuser.
Every ongoing rape case is under review after three other trials collapsed in two months.
In 2016, Mrs Saunders faced calls to quit after the £30million public payments probe Operation Elveden failed to convict a single journalist.
The handling of the child sex abuse probe Operation Yewtree was also slammed after stars including Jim Davidson, Freddie Starr and Jimmy Tarbuck were cleared after extensive investigations.
Mrs Saunders, 57, also backtracked over the prosecution of former Labour MP Lord Janner on child sex abuse charges due to his health, despite finding sufficient evidence to charge him.
A Whitehall source told the Daily Telegraph that her five-year tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions “has been highly contentious, to say the least”.
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Mrs Saunders, who leaves her £250,000-a-year role with a £1.8million pension, will join law firm Linklaters in the autumn.
A spokesman for the Attorney General said: “The DPP was appointed for a five-year term which ends in October 2018. The DPP did not ask for an extension to her contract.”
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