on 29 december 2018 "the telegraph" reported that alison saunders will be "the first former head of the crown prosecution service not to receive a senior honour after her tenure was marked by a series of scandals". (all of her predecessors "became a knight or a dame either during their tenure, or immediately after their departure.") a week after she stepped down as head of the cps, it was announced that the cps had agreed to a five-figure settlement with broadcaster paul gambaccini, who was arrested as part of operation yewtree and bailed repeatedly for a year over unfounded sex charges before being told he would not be charged. samuel armstrong, a former conservative mp's chief of staff who was acquitted of rape, said the settlement was a "damning indictment" that "should act as the final nail in the coffin for her hopes of a damehood." he added: "saunders' one-woman crusade to shift the scales of justice in sex cases not only ruined the lives of dozens of young men but of paul gambaccini as well."