The People's Award 2007

For the second year running, the Office for Criminal Justice Reform teamed up the the Daily Mirror to run the People's Award. On the 29 October, the paper profiled five finalists who representated the very best of the Criminal Justice System in their newspaper and on their website. The public was then invited to vote for their favourite either online, via phone-line or by text, with the proceeds from the phone-calls and text messages going to Women's Aid.

Voting closed at midnight on Friday, 2 November. The winner of the public vote was Nazir Afzal.

If you would like to find out more about Nazir and the other finalists, please take a look at the film profiles below.

Marianne Fellowes: Can't see the movie:
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Marianne Fellowes, County Domestic Violence Co-ordinator, Suffolk Police

Marianne works as a Domestic Violence Co-ordinator in Suffolk and through her commitment and passion to helping others she has worked to forge stronger links with a range of organisations and created robust public awareness campaigns for a wide range of audiences.

Her committment to raising awareness has led to an increase in reporting of domestic violence and she has also managed to secure external funding to increase access to services and to improve the gathering of evidence.

By researching, developing and delivering a responsive range of projects, Marianne's dedication has enabled victims to engage with the criminal justice process and allowed perpetrators to access opportunities to change their behaviour. For her contribution to tackling domestic violence, Marianne has also now been awarded an MBE.

Watch Marianne's film profile to find out more or read her interview on From the Frontline
Nazir Afzal: Can't see the movie:
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Nazir Aftal, Director, Crown Prosecution Service

Nazir works full time as the head of the West London Crown Prosecution Service which covers 80,000 cases a year, and he is also responsible for community engagement within the CPS.

As part of his role, Nazir is central to driving forward the CPS response to 'honour crimes' and has focused on this key issue - the victims of family honour killings. Nazir's dedication to tackling the difficult issue head on is evident; he has addressed the subject on all levels by engaging the community, local leaders, parliament and the media and regularly speaks out against these crimes.

As a direct result of Nazir's community engagement initiative, the process of successfully building cases against the perpetrators and improving team-working for specialist prosecutions has been able to be achieved.

Watch Nazir's film profile to find out more or read his interview on From the Frontline
Allan Shannon: Can't see the movie:
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Allan Shannon, Disability action Team Co-ordinator, Avon and Somerset Police

As a full time communications operator for Avon and Somerset Police and having a disability himself, Allan has a keen understanding of the need for achieving equality for all at work and so started the Disability Action Team (DAT) to support members of staff with disabilities.

Since its conception over two years ago, the DAT has grown and Allan has been instrumental in promoting equality for people with a disability. This has included introducing measures to enable staff to have the required tools for their job, such as supplying laptops to police officers with dyslexia to allow them to take statements, and he has also ensured that the Force are able meet their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act. Allan's commitment and understanding of the needs of others has allowed a genuine advance towards equal opportunities.

Watch Allan's film profile to find out more
Ian Robertson: Can't see the movie:
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Ian Robertson, Deputy Head of Operations, Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre

As the deputy head of the Operations Faculty at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, Ian has been responsible for leading a number of high-profile, international covert internet investigations tackling child sexual abuse.

In one operation alone, an investigation into an online paedophile network lead to 700 suspects being identified world-wide and over 40 children being safeguarded from abuse. As a result of the scale of the case and the high-profile media coverage, a decline has been achieved in online paedophile activity. Ian's outstanding achievement has sent out the clear message that people looking to exploit or abuse children online will be caught.

Watch Ian's film profile to find out more
Ewan Easton: Can't see the movie:
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Ewan Easton, Volunteer music instructor, HMYOI Thorn Cross

Ewan works at a young offender's institute to help with the rehabilitation of young offenders.

With an insight of music and a concern for young people, Ewan introduced Halle4Brass, a music and educational project working in partnership with Thorn Cross, the City College Manchester and the Halle Orchestra. In a 12-week project Ewan teaches young offenders how to play a brass instrument, read music and perform a musical repertoire, whilst developing their skills in co-ordination and dexterity.

Ewan's leadership and motivational skills have inspired over 100 young people to attend the evening classes and the regular concert evenings allow their skills to be demonstrated in positive and memorable way.

Watch Ewan's film profile to find out more