Mills, Barbara (1940–)

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Mills, Barbara (1940–)

English lawyer. Name variations: Dame Barbara Mills, Barbara Jean Lyon. Born Barbara Jean Lyon, Aug 1940, in Chorley Wood, Hertfordshire, England; graduate of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University; m. John Mills (managing director of import company, John Mills Ltd.).

Called to bar (1963); made recorder of Crown Court (1982) and Queens Counsel (1986); as Junior Treasury counsel to Central Criminal Court (1980s), gained notoriety for prosecution of Michael Fagin for breaking into bedroom of Elizabeth II; served as Department of Trade and Industry inspector under Financial Services Act (1986); named director of Serious Fraud Office (1990); became 1st woman to head Department of Public Prosecutions, presiding over its rehabilitation and its transformation into one of England's highest profile law offices (1992–98); served as adjudicator for Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise, as trustee of Victim Support, and, since 2000, as non-executive director of Royal Free Hampstead teaching hospital. Created Dame of British Empire (DBE).