Whos Who
| Paula Jack Paula joined the Youth Justice Agency as the new Chief Executive on 1st September 2010. Paula joined the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England 1992, where she qualified as a solicitor. She practised as a Senior Crown Prosecutor for 12 years in the North Yorkshire area. During her career with the CPS she also spent a period of time as a Policy Advisor, working mainly on domestic violence issues. In October 2004, she joined the Department of Public Prosecutions Northern Ireland as a Senior Public Prosecutor. In June 2005 she was promoted to Assistant Director, Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland. For the last five years she managed the Northern Region of the service with a team of 32 lawyers and 74 administrative staff in offices at Ballymena and Foyle. Paula has also lectured at the University of Ulster on a part time basis in criminology and criminal justice. |
 | Aideen McLaughlin
Aideen has worked for the Youth Justice Agency since January 2004, initially as a Youth Conference Co-ordinator prior to her promotion to Assistant Director, Youth Conference Service in August 2005. Since qualifying as a Social Worker in 1990, Aideen’s career has been spent working with children and young people and their families. Initially she practiced as a Child Protection Social Worker in Bangor for almost 6 years before taking up post as a Probation Officer with PBNI where she specialised in working with adjudicated young offenders who were subject to Probation Orders and Juvenile Justice Centre Orders.
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 | Martin Gunning Director of Corporate Services Martin was seconded from the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) to the Juvenile Justice Board in July 2002 to assist with the preparations for launch of the Youth Justice Agency in April 2003. With the establishment of the Youth Justice Agency, Martin became Director of Corporate Services. Before joining the NIO, Martin spent almost 20 years with the then Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS). He joined the DHSS from outside industry in 1975 as an Executive Officer Grade 1 and worked in several Branches on the Health and Personal Social Services side of the DHSS. These Branches included Efficiency Services, Workforce Planning and Nurse Education and Training. |
Mary Brannigan Mary was appointed acting Director of Youth Justice Services in October 2011. Mary began her career in the criminal justice sector in 1990 when she worked as a residential social worker in St Joseph’s Training School, Middletown. In 1997 Mary joined the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) where she worked as a Probation Officer and then as PBNI’S Youth Justice Unit manager. In 2004 Mary joined the Youth Justice Agency, initially as Assistant Director with the Community Services directorate. Prior to Mary’s recent appointment she was acting Director of the Youth Conference Service. |
 | Philip Tooze Since then, he has overseen the successful transition to a single purpose designed juvenile justice centre serving all of Northern Ireland. Woodlands, in Bangor, became operational in January 2007.
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