Tony Connell: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
Any Liverpool fan. I support Everton, ‘the people’s club’.
What was your first-ever job?
Newspaper boy in a very cold, wet Liverpool.
What was your worst experience as a trainee?
Steadily getting more overdrawn as a pupil barrister.
What time do you usually leave the office?
We have flexible working – it’s never nine to five.
What do you do at weekends?
Watch horse-racing, bet on horses and enjoy the winnings.
What’s your favourite restaurant?
Sardo Canale, Primrose Hill.
If you weren’t a lawyer what would you have been?
A journalist.
Who’s your hero and why?
My dad died recently. He gave us everything. His generation – selfless, uncomplaining, stoic, content – is passing and we will all be the worse for it.
What’s the best thing about your job?
Being part of a top-class team all doing their best to achieve justice on behalf of the public.
What’s the toughest thing about your job?
Explaining to victims’ relatives why there’s been a not guilty verdict. I once had to explain why we were compelled to accept a plea of manslaughter from a defendant who had killed seven people, including four generations of family members.
What’s your biggest work/career mistake and what did you learn from it?
Some years ago it was only possible to get on in the CPS by embracing management responsibility (not like now). I hated it.
What car do you drive?
I don’t. Passed my test in 1986. Never driven since.
What book are you currently reading?
The Racing Post each day.
What’s on your iPod?
Haven’t got one and not a clue how to work one.
Favourite children’s book?
I have problems remembering what I read five minutes ago, let alone 40 years ago.
What’s the most exciting deal or case you’ve worked on?
Damilola Taylor. It was rewarding to be able to bring just a little bit of justice to his parents.
If you were stranded on a desert island what two luxury items would you take?
A big mattress and a Panama hat.
What’s the worst partner conference location you’ve attended and why?
I was once ordered into an Old Street Magistrates’ Court cell to take client instructions. The gaolers forgot I was there and only released me an hour later.
Who would play you in the movie of your life and why?
One of the McGann brothers, so that they could accurately replicate the nasal whine of an exiled Scouser.
Who would you least like to be stuck in a lift with and why?
Any Liverpool fan. I support Everton, ‘the people’s club’.
CV
Name: Tony Connell
Organisation: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
Title: Special casework lawyer
Lives: Highbury, London
Education
1974-77: Birmingham University
1981-82: Inns of Court School of Law (now the City Law School)
Work history
1978-80: Admin trainee, George Wimpey
1982-86: The bar
1986-present: Special casework lawyer, CPS
