IMPROVING the 'poor' conviction rate in Hammersmith and Fulham is the priority for the borough's new public prosecutor.

Dolores Barrett has replaced Sharon Grant as the new head of the Crown Prosecution Service in H&F and neighbouring Kensington and Chelsea.

She becomes the ninth borough prosecutor in two years and will pick up responsibility in K&C after the CPS split the boroughs in 2009.

And Ms Barrett inherits a borough slammed by a damning report by HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, published in March last year, which rated it as one of the worst in London.

Just 83 per cent of cases brought to magistrates' court had a successful outcome, compared to the 87 per cent nationally, while its performance was deemed to be 'poor' overall and sharing the worst score with Lewisham, Brent and Enfield.

The report said: “In crown court casework, files are not prepared and progressed to the standard that is reasonable to expect; papers arrive late from the police and lawyers have competing priorities between crown court and magistrates' court casework.

“The case progression difficulties have permeated all aspects of casework including the treatment of victims and witnesses.”

Mrs Barrett, a former legal manager for CPS London Direct, which provides telephone charging advice to police, insists she is 'determined' to put things right.

She joined the CPS as a prosecutor in the early 1990s before she became a youth specialist to prosecute youth crime and has worked a chief prosecutor in Westminster.

She said: “These are challenging times for CPS London. Like all public sector organisations we are having to operate with a lower budget and unprecedented numbers of cases are now going through the system as a result of the disorder in August.

“I am determined that the service we provide rises to match the expectations of residents. I am delighted with my new appointment and am passionate about working effectively with our partners in the criminal justice system to deliver justice to victims and witnesses of crime across the boroughs.”

A spokesman for the CPS told the Chronicle the Inspectorate would be conducting a follow-up review of Hammersmith and Fulham's service later this year and that a report with the latest performance figures would be published in early 2012.