Directions to prosecute follow (5)
I believe the answer is:
ensue
'follow' is the definition.
(ensue can mean to follow or happen as a result)
'directions to prosecute' is the wordplay.
'directions' becomes 'en' (east and north).
'to prosecute' becomes 'sue' (I've seen this before).
'en'+'sue'='ENSUE'
(Other definitions for ensue that I've seen before include "Leading directly to" , "Turn out" , "Occur afterwards" , "succeed" , "Befall" .)