After Van Mildert College, Durham, he briefly lectured in law at Durham and Queen Mary College London before going to the Bar in Birmingham chambers in 1971, of which he later became Head. He took silk in 1990, having been for a few years before that a Recorder (part time judge). From 1997 until 2018 he was a full time judge, successively in the Family Division, the Queen's Bench Division, the Court of Appeal (where he was Vice President of the Criminal Division) and the Supreme Court. He retired under the standard age rules in 2018. He was Treasurer of Inner Temple in 2019. He was part of the group which set up the Society’s Science and Law project and remains active in its endeavours. Currently he is also a Judicial Commissioner for the Investigatory Powers Commission, and Chairman of the public inquiry into apparent novichok poisoning in the Salisbury area in 2018 which led to the death of Dawn Sturgess. He lives in Worcestershire, where when time allows he attempts to remain sane through garden labouring, village bellringing, inexpert DIY, and (veteran) rowing, and he follows rugby and cricket whenever he can. He has from time to time been a governor of the Alice Ottley School, Worcester, a trustee of various village organisations and charities, and churchwarden at his parish church. His principal ambition is to re-establish a connection with his garden and to renovate a Ferguson tractor exactly as elderly as he is. He is married to a former biochemist; they have two grown-up children who sensibly followed mother rather than father.
Hon DCL (Durham); Hon LLD (Birmingham); Hon DLitt (Worcester).
Professional position
- Former Judge, The Supreme Court
