Inspector - John Shanks joined the inspection team in September 2004 from the NI Legal Services Commission where he was the Director of Internal Audit, Business Assurance and Risk Management.

Prior to that John spent over 20 years with the NI Court Service working in various Magistrates Courts around Northern Ireland and the Queen’s Bench and Family Divisions of the High Court. As a professionally qualified Member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (MIIA) and a Fellow of the Institute of Internal Auditors, he has held a variety of internal audit posts at various stages of his career in the Court Service.  As Head of Internal Audit in the Northern Ireland Court Service, he was also a member of the Senior Management Group.

John’s interest in the inspection process goes back to the publication of the Criminal Justice Review and Recommendation 263 which supported the establishment of a cross-cutting inspectorate for the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland, something that does not exist elsewhere. John is enthusiastic about the opportunity his appointment offers to be part of reform and improvement of the Criminal Justice System, and keen to further develop his skills and experience whilst with CJI.

Inspector - James Corrigan joined CJI as an inspector in October 2004. James previously worked for PA Consulting Group as a senior consultant in public sector practice where he was responsible for a number of criminal justice projects.

These included a major project for the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales on reducing delays and a Scottish Executive project on tackling youth offending. He has also specialised in the evaluation and review of organisations, particularly within the criminal justice sector in the UK and Ireland. Prior to his work with PA, James worked as an international management consultant in London and Brussels on the evaluation of European Commission programmes and projects.  Much of this work focused on the pre-accession process for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and involved work with governments in all of these states. Before becoming a management consultant, James worked as a research fellow at Queen’s University Belfast in the Institute of European Studies.

James is responsible for leading a number of inspections including the ongoing work in the State Pathology Department and Forensic Science Northern Ireland.  He has also taking forward a major thematic project on delay in the criminal justice system, which examine the causes of and remedies for delays, and was published in May 2006.

Inspector - Tom Mc Gonigle transferred to CJI from the Social Services Inspectorate where he had been Inspector of Probation and Offender Services since November 2003.  He led CJI's first major thematic inspection on the management of sex offenders in Northern Ireland, which reported in March 2005.  He has inspected aspects of Probation practice and governance, as well as adult and juvenile custodial facilities.

Tom joined the Northern Ireland Probation Service in 1980, and worked in a range of fieldwork, custodial and community development settings, as a practitioner and manager. He became Deputy Director of St Patricks Juvenile Justice Centre in 1996, and joined NIACRO as Director of Operations following the closure of St Patrick's in 2000.  Tom is particularly interested in international prison comparisons, and has visited prisons in different countries.  He is a strong supporter of CJI's collaborative approach to inspection, which aims to help agencies view inspection as a positive contribution to their organisational practice and development .

Inspector – Rachel Tupling joined CJI as an Inspector in July 2007 having previously worked at the Central Police Training and Development Authority (Centrex, now part of the National Policing Improvement Agency) in England for five years.

During her time with Centrex Rachel was involved as a Psychologist designing and delivering the National Recruitment Assessment Centres for Police Constables.  From 2004 she had responsibility for designing and delivering promotion assessment centres for the Police Service of Northern Ireland as a Higher Psychologist.

Prior to this Rachel worked for two years as a Personnel Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust while studying for her MSc in Occupational Psychology. 

In addition to her Masters degree, Rachel holds a BSc Hons in Psychology from the University of Birmingham and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management from Leeds Metropolitan University.  Rachel is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. 

Rachel developed an interest and understanding of the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland through her work with the PSNI.  She believes her work with CJI will enable her to develop a greater knowledge of the other criminal justice agencies in Northern Ireland.

Inspection Support Officer - Danielle Reaney joined CJI in October 2007.   Prior to this Danielle worked in Edinburgh with the youth justice charity Includem, mentoring young people aged 14 to 21 years on a one-to-one basis addressing exclusion among vulnerable young offenders.  She also worked in East Lothian as a day service officer for adults with learning disabilities. 

Danielle holds a BSc (Hons) in Psychology (Stirling, 2004) and developed an interest in criminal justice while completing her dissertation.  This interest led her to undertake a MA in Criminal Justice with the universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow which she completed in 2006.

Danielle will be involved in supporting all Inspection staff by undertaking research prior to the start of an inspection, co-ordinating fieldwork and providing on-going assistance during and after an inspection has been completed.

She was attracted to working with CJI as it provided an opportunity to work in the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland and the chance to develop a greater knowledge and understanding of all of the agencies involved.

IT Systems Administrator - John Gallagher joined CJI as its IT Systems Administrator in November 2007.

Prior to taking up his post John worked with the Inspectorate for three years on secondment from the Northern Ireland Civil Service as a member of the Business Support Team.

During his career John has been involved in a variety of IT roles including working as a member of an initial three-person Department of Health and Social Services team involved in the roll-out and installation of IT systems in GP surgeries across Northern Ireland.

He has also taken the lead in establishing and managing a central support desk dealing with faults and IT problems for the HPSS.

In addition, John was responsible for scheduling and ensuring IT software upgrades were installed prior to the start of 2000 and that all work carried out was compliant with Year 2000 policies.

John is keen to work with CJI as it is a developing organisation where he can use his IT skills and experience to ensure up-to-date support is provide for the Chief Inspector, Deputy Chief Inspector, Inspection team and Business Support staff.

He will also work with the Media and Communications Officer to increase the use of CJI’s website as a communication tool and ensure new technology is introduced where appropriate.

Administration Support Officer - Paula McCullough joined CJI in March 2008.  Prior to joining CJI, Paula worked as an administrative officer with Gingerbread NI, a charity working to support lone parents and children.

Paula has also worked as a senior clerical officer with Belfast Metropolitan College (formerly BIFHE).

Paula holds a BSSc (Hons) degree in Political and Social Sciences from University of North Wales, Bangor.

Paula chose to work with CJI because she supports the Inspectorate’s ethos of inspection with a view to improving public confidence in the criminal justice system.  She also felt her role within the Business Support Team would offer a variety of new challenges.