Judges - naughty ones

Andrew Chubb aged 58 Crown Court Circuit Judge October 2007	The wife of a judge who burnt to death after an explosion in his garden shed did not kill him, a coroner ruled. Mrs Chubb had been arrested on suspicion of murder, but had not been charged. Judge Chubb died shortly after telling his wife that he wanted a divorce, he had been having an affair. Mrs Chubb emigrated to Australia The cause of death would probably never be known. News report, here
Judge Roger Keen QC September 2007 Transcript here	Judge Keen was presiding over a trial of 31-year-old man accused of handling stolen goods, which he claimed were obtained on eBay. He was eventually found guilty by a jury and sentenced to three years in prison, but the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction, Lord Justice Laws, saying, "We have been very greatly troubled about the judge's conduct in this case. We are bound to say we consider that the exchanges between the judge and counsel, especially on the first day, betray a rudeness and discourtesy of which the judge should be ashamed. His treatment of the issue about the appellant's change of clothes was brutal. His withdrawal of bail was at least questionable... Judge Keen had unfairly accused the defendant’s legal team of time-wasting at the very start of the trial and, after the first day, withdrew bail. Judge Keen refused to allow the defendant to change his clothes until the prosecution had finished putting their case. On day three the defendant, who hadn't been able to shower in the cells, was able to put on the clean clothes, but only after he had given evidence. When the defendant eventually got into the witness box, he burst into tears. Quashing the convictions, Lord Justice Laws said: "We have been very gravely troubled by the judge's conduct.
2007 July Mr Justice Peter Smith	Outcome: 18 April 2008, Judge Smith was reprimanded by the Lord Chief Justice. For the first time the Lord Chief Justice has taken steps to initiate disciplinary action against a High Court judge by referring the judge to the Office for Judicial Complaints, which was set up under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. It is a first step towards possible disciplinary proceedings against the judge. It could lead to a reprimand or even to a recommendation to ask Parliament to remove him. A High Court Judge can only be removed from office by parliament. Mr Justice Peter Smith, the judge who presided over the "Da Vinci Code" case was slammed by the Court of Appeal for marring his judgment with his personal feelings. [In the "Da Vinci Code" case the judge wrote a coded message, thought to have been unprecedented in court judgments]. The case that has provoked the referral to the OJC came after Peter Smith J had been in negotiations to join a law firm called Addleshaws. The negotiations broke down. Smith said that he had been angered by his treatment which had wasted his time. The Court of Appeal found that Peter Smith J had “animosity” towards the firm. Then a case was due to be heard before Peter Smith J involving a party who was head of a department at Addleshaws. An application to the judge for him to stand down (be recused) was denied by him. The Court of Appeal ruled that instead of testing the evidence of the witness the judge cross examined him in a way that a “defence advocate” would. The Court of Appeal ruled that Peter Smith J’s actions were “wholly inappropriate” especially in relation to the cross-examination and that the court was “quite satisfied that the judge should have recused himself”. The court also held that Peter Smith J’s attitude towards Addleshaws, about which the firm was complaining, “rose directly from the judge’s private affairs”. The conduct of the hearing, it ruled, underlined the fact that he had been “personally involved”.
Judges misuse of computers	In May 2007 a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice confirmed that it has information about judges misusing computers but refused to release it. This followed a ruling from the Information Commissioner about computer misuse include accessing porn. The Office for Judicial Complaints now has responsibility for complaints and disciplining of judges. In its first ten months, the Office for Judicial Complaints has investigated 1,434 complaints against judges, magistrates and other judicial office holders, but no breakdown has been given as to how many relate to judicial misconduct. Times Newspaper article here
“The trouble is I don’t understand the language. I don’t really understand what a website is.”	Judges will often ask counsel what appear to be blindingly obvious questions not because they don’t know the answer but because future generations will not know. So, when a judge asked who Gazza was and who the Beetles were the judges were eliciting an answer for posterity not because he didn’t know. Some observers foun it impossible to find a benign explanation for Judge Peter Openshaw when he said, “I don’t really understand what a website is.” Nevertheless, it was made clear that he did know but was asking the question for the benefit of the future. See the full article here.
Sir Stephen Richards QC not guilty	A pair of Calvin Klein underpants made a brief appearance in a court. They belonged to high court judge Sir Stephen Richards QC who was mistakenly accused of flashing on a train. Wearing such underwear made exposure highly unlikely. A woman on a rush-hour train mistakenly identified Lord Richards who told a court it was contrary to his "whole nature and approach to life". Lord Justice Stephen Richards, 56, was accused of two counts of exposure to the same woman on separate occasions. He laughed when David Fisher, QC, defending, asked why he would not expose himself. He said: "I am a happily married family man and I can't perceive deriving any gratification from exposing my penis as alleged." He added: "I value greatly the attributes of courtesy and respect of other people and I hope I exhibit those attributes through my professional and personal life." the specially formed magistrates court comprising a district judge and two lay magistrates found he was not guilty.
September 2006 Judge Khan and the "real chilli hot stuff"	23rd May 2008, this matter was brought to a close when the Lord Chancellor and LCJ issued a statement saying the matter would not be investigated further. Judge Khan has a serious illness and is unlikely to return to work and Judge J had retired on medical grounds. Newspaper report here. A Brazilian cleaner was found guilty of blackmailing a female judge (only identified by the initial "J"). The cleaner also stole two videos from a male judge, Mohammed Khan aged 60. Judge Khan was an immigration tribunal chairman. The cleaner was jailed for 33 months and recommended for deportation. The retrial was abandoned when both judges were too ill to attend. Press report here. Judge Khan had an affair with the cleaner and the female judge. The video was alleged to show both J and Judge Khan together and it is alleged to show him snorting cocaine. Text messages were sent by Judge Khan with expressions of affection such as "real chilli hot stuff". The conduct of the judges has lead to calls for an enquiry because they have brought the judiciary into disrepute. Some commentators have suggested that it was unwise for all immigration adjudicators to be given the new title of 'Judge' in 2004. (David Pannick, QC, here). News report here, and here. This incident was the first big test for the Office of Judicial Complaints, an independent body set up in April 2005 to ensure all judicial disciplinary issues are dealt with “consistently, fairly and efficiently”.
July 2005 Judge Medawar	Judge Medawar, 72, has not formally been disciplined but has in effect been put out to graze after a series of rulings that trials over which he presided were unfair because of his crotchety and apparently biased comments. News report here
There were 250 complaints of misconduct against judges and tribunal chairmen in 2004, 68 of which were upheld and resulted in disciplinary action.	Judges have been admonished or reprimanded for such behaviour as racist language, sexual harassment, discourtesy in court, delays in delivering judgments and drink driving. One referred in court to "the nigger in the woodpile", while another said that fraud was an offence prevalent among Nigerians. One who had previously been reprimanded for kissing a court usher had to apologise after saying, in reference to doctors writing sick notes: "I know many people with duodenal ulcers who work like niggers." Yet another was reprimanded for falling asleep twice in a rape trial, causing the hearing to be abandoned.
Since April 2006 the Office for Judicial Complaints deals with allegations about judges' personal conduct, though complaints over the way they conduct court proceedings will be outside its remit	The shake-up has transfered the responsibility for choosing and promoting judges from the lord chancellor to the Judicial Appointments Commission. The Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman oversees both the appointments commission and the complaints office. Judges who are disciplined for bad behaviour do not have the findings against them made public. The exception, as at present, will be those judges whose misdeeds are trumpeted in the media - for example, those who make racist remarks in open court which are picked up by reporters. In those cases, it is necessary for the sake of public confidence in the justice system to reveal the outcome of an investigation.
Crown Court Recorder Roger Davies	The People newspaper claimed in October 2003 that married father-of-three Davies, 64, used gay chatlines to arrange dates with young male prostitutes he took early retirement. News report here
Judge David Selwood	Solicitor, David Selwood, the resident senior judge at Portsmouth Crown Court until he resigned, accessed 75 pictures of naked and semi-clad boys, aged between eight and 14.
Judge Gabriel Hutton	At Gloucester crown court on 19 December 2001 the trial of a 21-year-old accused of rape was abandoned - at a cost to the taxpayer of around £35,000 - when the defence counsel claimed that Judge Gabriel Hutton had been asleep. 69-year-old Judge Hutton told the jury. "I am not aware that I did. I think I was well aware of what he was saying to you. But if in fact I gave the impression of not listening to what he said, it would be unfair to the defendant to allow the case to go on."
Lord Bingham LCJ	In 1997 Lord Bingham was criticised for an offensive after dinner jokes during a speech to London Criminal Courts Solicitors' Association, one joke was about sentencing rapists.
John Reeder, QC	Was almost five times the limit and had a half-full bottle of vodka in his pocket when arrested after an accident. A specialist in maritime law, who was described as one of the country's finest legal minds, resigned from the bench and was sentenced to five months custody. His sentence was cut from to two by an appeal court. Reeder was in virtual solitary confinement in prison for his own safety.
Judge Victor Hall	Convicted of drink-driving, was allowed to keep his job but not allowed to sit on any motoring cases during the 20 months of his disqualification in 1999.
Judge Richard Gee	Was charged in respect of a major fraud allegedly committed before his appointment to the bench. At his first trial the jury failed to agree, and at his second the Attorney-General entered *nolle prosequi* after the court had heard medical evidence that the defendant was unfit to stand trial because of psychological illness brought on by the stress of the prosecution. He resigned in 1999 when investigations began into another alleged fraud.
Judge Anthony Thornton, QC in September 1995	Was accused by a Sunday newspaper of drug-taking and sexual activities with two prostitutes. If true, the evidence appeared to conflict with the judge's explanation of the events given in an interview with Lord Mackay, the Lord Chancellor. That interview led to Lord Mackay announcing that the judge would not be sacked and would continue to carry out his duties. The newspaper also claimed that the sex scenes were accompanied by a "lewd running commentary" from the judge. After an undertaking to the Lord Chancellor he was allowed to continue sitting.
Judge William Crawford, QC in March 1997	Was overheard saying: "I know many people with duodenal ulcers who work like niggers." was severely rebuked by Lord Mackay, the Lord Chancellor. It was "particularly surprising", said Lord Mackay, as he understood that he had attended a course organised by the Judicial Studies Board on racial awareness. Lord Justice Waite said in the Court of Appeal in 1996 that the word "nigger" could "never now be used without offence to the principles of racial integration and good relations, which it is the policy of the law and of the courts to uphold".
Judge Graham Boal QC in Nov 1997	Who sits at the Old Bailey, allegedly told a sexually explicit joke in front of an audience of several hundred judges and barristers at the annual dinner of the Criminal Bar Association.
Judge John Prosser in November 1997	When a witness was asked if she had said anything to the defendant during an alleged indecent assault when she was a 12-year-old child answered that she had been prevented from speaking by the nature of the sex act she was forced to perform. Prosecuting counsel acknowledged that he had asked a "stupid question" at which point the judge said "It is like the dentist putting all his hands in your mouth and asking you what you are going to do for the day."
Judge John Prosser in R v W (1993)	Judge Prosser was criticised in 1993 after he placed a schoolboy rapist under a three-year supervision order and ordered him to pay his victim £500 so she could "have a good holiday" to "get over her trauma.
Angus Macarthur in November 1997	A former judge was jailed for 28 days after being convicted of his third drink driving offence in 12 years. Angus Macarthur, 55, who resigned from his post as a county court judge on health grounds three days before sentence, had more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood when he was involved in an accident.
Mr Justice Harman in February 1998 Goose v Wilson	The highly unpopular High Court judge Mr Justice Harman resigned after he was criticised over a 20-month delay in delivering a judgment. Three Court of Appeal judges said his conduct "weakens public confidence in the whole judicial process". They ordered a retrial. He had lost documents and forgotten evidence. Sir Jeremiah Harman - three times voted the profession's least favourite judge - increasingly acquired a reputation as an irascible, eccentric and out-of-touch judge. One woman barrister said: "Good riddance to bad rubbish. Barristers, particularly women, have put up with his nastiness for long enough." Alan Boyle QC told the appeal judges that he had written letters to Mr Justice Harman urging him without success to give his judgment. At one stage, said Mr Boyle, he had considered taking out life insurance on Mr Justice Harman to cover lost legal costs if he died before giving his ruling.
Mr Justice Harman, to a woman witness	To a woman witness who wanted to be addressed with the title Ms, he said, in 1991, “I've always thought there were only three kinds of women: wives, whores and mistresses, which are you?”.
Soft judges, an unprecedented series of referrals by the Attorney General (24 October 2003) (Attorney General's References (Nos.37, 38, 44, 54, 51, 53, 35, 40, 43, 45, 41, The Times 29 October 2003)on the grounds that sentences were unduly lenient...the results:
Judge Crowther, QC	...jailed Dean Coles, 41, for seven years at Bristol Crown Court for five offences including attempted rape and indecent assault. The term was increased to eight years. Coles ran a model agency from his home in Rodborough, Gloucestershire, offering to promote aspiring models. Over three years from 1996 he sexually assaulted five women who came to him for help with a modelling career. The Attorney-General argued that the judge was wrong to say the offences were “opportunistic rather than predatory”. Some of them revealed a high degree of premeditation, he said. The appeal judges said: “Seven years was too short a sentence for these five serious offences.” Taking account of “double jeopardy”, they set the term at eight years.
Judge Spence	...gave Jeffrey Carney, 66, a three-year community rehabilitation order at Reading Crown Court in June for indecently assaulting two sons of friends. The sentence was replaced with a 15-month jail term. Carney, former headmaster at St Sebastian’s School in Wokingham, committed the offences from 1976 to the late 1990s.
Judge Gerber	...sentenced a 51-year-old man at Wood Green Crown Court to five years for rape and causing grievous bodily harm to his partner in April 2002. The jail term was increased to eight years. The man’s victim, 57, had previously made complaints about his violence on 22 occasions, although she had not pursued proceedings.
Judge David Wynn Morgan	... sentenced Rhys Davies, 63, to 2½ years in jail for eight counts of indecent assault against two boys who were “groomed and systematically abused” for several years up to 1995. The term, set at Cardiff Crown Court in July 2003, was increased to four years. Davies had earlier served almost seven years in a Spanish jail for sexually abusing boys aged ten and eleven while on holiday.
Judge Jones	...originally sentenced a 16-year-old boy to a community rehabilitation order at Taunton Crown Court for nine counts of rape and indecent assault against the same victim. Three of the offences were of indecent assault on a boy under ten, three of rape on a boy under 16 and three of indecency with a child. He did not lose his liberty on appeal but the conditions attached to his order were increased. The boy has been ordered to take part in an “intensive supervision and surveillance programme” and be tagged. The appeal judges said that in a case involving such serious sexual allegations, it was “incumbent on the judge” to make clear the precise factual basis on which he had reached his sentencing decision, but that in this case Judge Jones did not do so.
Judge Michael Neligan	...originally sentenced Terence Daniel Cooper, 21, to 12 months for serious abuse of three young boys and having a library of more than 200 images of children being abused. The jail term, imposed at Maidstone Crown Court, was increased to four years, with the custodial part remaining at 12 months and three years suspended.
Judge Mowat	...originally gave Emyr Evans, 82 a non-custodial sentence for sexually abusing two boy parishioners more than 25 years ago. The appeal judges quashed the sentence of two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, imposed at Reading Crown Court in July after he pleaded guilty to a total of five counts of indecent assault. Evans, formerly a minister at a church in Buckinghamshire, was ordered to surrender to custody at Cheltenham police station tomorrow. Lord Justice Kay said that the court had seen a significant amount of evidence concerning Evans’s good character “and, as one might expect of a minister of the church, apart from these matters there is every reason to believe that he lived a worthwhile life serving his community”.
Judge van der Werff	...sentenced a 43-year-old police officer serving with Kent Police to four years in jail for rape and wounding at the conclusion of a trial at Inner London Crown Court. The term was increased to seven years. A father of four, the man had been married for nine years by the time of the offences in 2001.
Judge Rodwell, QC	...gave a 47-year-old man a 12-month jail term at Aylesbury Crown Court in May for five offences of indecent assault against his older daughter and two against his younger daughter. The term was increased to two years after the Attorney-General said the offences involved gross breaches of trust when the victims were very young.
Judge Benson	...gave a 58-year-old man a three-year community rehabilitation order for six counts of indecent assault against his daughter when aged seven and eight, 24 years ago. The order was imposed at Derby Crown Court in February. The sentence was increased to 18 months in jail after Lord Goldsmith, QC, argued that the girl was the man’s daughter, so there was a gross breach of trust. She was very young and the offending was deliberate, planned and repeated. The appeal judges agreed and imposed a custodial sentence. Judge Benson also jailed a 38-year-old man at Nottingham Crown Court in June this year for 12 months for two charges of indecent assault on a step-daughter when she was aged 12. The term was increased to 3½ years by the appeal judges. The abuse, which stopped when the girl complained at school, had had a “very considerable” effect on the girl and the whole family. She had suffered flashbacks and been too frightened to sleep alone. The appeal judges said it was a “particularly bad case of its kind” which was likely to lead to “untold problems for the child not only now, but throughout her life”.
Andrew Horn C14	In a treatise, The Mirror of Justices circa 1290, Andrew Horn, a chamberlain of London, listed certain people as ineligible to become a judge:- “Women [...] open lepers, idiots, attorneys, lunatics ... "
Lawyer quotes	Some wonderful quotes, here.