Brian Smedley
Encyclopedia
Sir Frank Brian Smedley was a High Court judge
in the Queen's Bench Division from 1995 to 2000. As a circuit judge, he took charge of the prosecution of the Matrix Churchill trial
in 1992.
, England
. He was educated at West Bridgford Grammar School in Nottingham
, and studied law at University College London
. After graduating, he taught briefly at Wilsthorpe Community School
in Long Eaton
.
in 1960. He was a pupil of Denis Cowley at his chambers
in Nottingham, and went on to practise a mix of criminal and civil law on the Midland Circuit. He later moved to 2 Crown Office Row in London. He acted for the prosecution in the trial of a Birmingham ammunition factory in 1974, following an explosion which killed six people. The factory was fined £10 - the maximum stipluated by the Explosives Act 1875. He was junior counsel for the Crown
in the prosecution of Donald Neilson
, the "Black Panther", in 1976 for a series of murders. Smedley became a Recorder
in 1972, and he was appointed a Queen's Counsel
in 1977.
He spent 3 years in Bermuda
from 1984 to 1987, as a partner in a firm of solicitor
s, after accompanying his ill mother to sunnier climes for her health. He returned to the UK after her death, and became a Circuit Judge at the Old Bailey
in July 1987. He presided at the trial of a Canadian artist Rick Gibson
and art gallery director Peter Sylveire in 1989, who were found guilty of outraging public decency and fined for making and exhibiting earrings made from human foetuses.
for exporting weapons-making machine tools to Iraq. He decided that Public Interest Immunity
did not apply to documents which showed that the John Major's government had known about the export, despite claims by the government that releasing the documents could result in "unquantifiable damage". In the trial, the former trade minister Alan Clark
confessed to being ""economical with the actualité" under close cross examination by the defence counsel, Geoffrey Robertson
, Gilbert Gray
and James Hunt
. The case collapsed, and the defendants were acquitted. The Scott Inquiry was convened later that year.
of Cyprus
from 1989, and then a Senior Judge from 1991 to 1995, when became a High Court judge
. He received the customary knighthood, and was assigned to the Queen's Bench Division. In 1995, he presided at the trial of an IRA sympathiser for possessing 3.5 pounds of Semtex
, and in 1997 at the trial of three members of an IRA bombing unit. He presided at the trial Horrett Campbell in 1996, for a machete
attack on teachers and pupils at a primary school in Wolverhampton
earlier that year, praising the bravery of nursery nurse Lisa Potts
, who sustained horrific injuries in defending the children and was later awarded the George Medal
. He also presided at the trial of Kevan Roberts in 1999 for the murder of 12-year-old Thomas Marshall, whose body was found in woods near Thetford
in 1997.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/553957.stm
, although he continued to sit occasionally on the Court of Appeal. He was a member of the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission from 2001. He died in Rochester, Kent. He was survived by his partner for 38 years, Peter Wright.
High Court judge
A High Court judge is a judge of the High Court of Justice, and represents the third highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales. High Court judges are referred to as puisne judges...
in the Queen's Bench Division from 1995 to 2000. As a circuit judge, he took charge of the prosecution of the Matrix Churchill trial
Arms-to-Iraq
The Arms-to-Iraq affair concerned the uncovering of the government-endorsed sale of arms by British companies to Iraq, then under the rule of Saddam Hussein...
in 1992.
Early life
Smedley was born in LeicesterLeicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was educated at West Bridgford Grammar School in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, and studied law at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
. After graduating, he taught briefly at Wilsthorpe Community School
Wilsthorpe Business and Enterprise College
Wilsthorpe Community School is a secondary comprehensive school, in Long Eaton, Derbyshire.-History:It opened in 1954 as the Wilsthorpe Secondary Modern School. Neighbouring the school was the Parklands County Secondary Modern School, which became an infants school...
in Long Eaton
Long Eaton
Long Eaton is a town in Derbyshire, England. It lies just north of the River Trent about southwest of Nottingham and is part of the Nottingham Urban Area...
.
Legal career
He was called to the Bar at Gray's InnGray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
in 1960. He was a pupil of Denis Cowley at his chambers
Chambers (law)
A judge's chambers, often just called his or her chambers, is the office of a judge.Chambers may also refer to the type of courtroom where motions related to matter of procedure are heard.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :...
in Nottingham, and went on to practise a mix of criminal and civil law on the Midland Circuit. He later moved to 2 Crown Office Row in London. He acted for the prosecution in the trial of a Birmingham ammunition factory in 1974, following an explosion which killed six people. The factory was fined £10 - the maximum stipluated by the Explosives Act 1875. He was junior counsel for the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
in the prosecution of Donald Neilson
Donald Neilson
Donald Neilson is a British multiple murderer and armed robber...
, the "Black Panther", in 1976 for a series of murders. Smedley became a Recorder
Recorder (judge)
A Recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales. It now refers to two quite different appointments. The ancient Recorderships of England and Wales now form part of a system of Honorary Recorderships which are filled by the most senior full-time circuit judges...
in 1972, and he was appointed a Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
in 1977.
He spent 3 years in Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
from 1984 to 1987, as a partner in a firm of solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
s, after accompanying his ill mother to sunnier climes for her health. He returned to the UK after her death, and became a Circuit Judge at the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
in July 1987. He presided at the trial of a Canadian artist Rick Gibson
Rick Gibson
Rick Gibson is a Canadian sculptor and artist. He was born in Montreal, Quebec and he studied Psychology at the University of Victoria. Between 1973 and 1974 he drew weekly comics for the student newspaper. After completing his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974 he moved to Vancouver, Canada. He...
and art gallery director Peter Sylveire in 1989, who were found guilty of outraging public decency and fined for making and exhibiting earrings made from human foetuses.
Matrix Churchill trial
In 1992, he was the trial judge in charge of the prosecution of three directors of Matrix ChurchillArms-to-Iraq
The Arms-to-Iraq affair concerned the uncovering of the government-endorsed sale of arms by British companies to Iraq, then under the rule of Saddam Hussein...
for exporting weapons-making machine tools to Iraq. He decided that Public Interest Immunity
Public Interest Immunity
Public-interest immunity is a principle of English common law under which the English courts can grant a court order allowing one litigant to refrain from disclosing evidence to the other litigants where disclosure would be damaging to the public interest...
did not apply to documents which showed that the John Major's government had known about the export, despite claims by the government that releasing the documents could result in "unquantifiable damage". In the trial, the former trade minister Alan Clark
Alan Clark
Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark was a British Conservative MP and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Trade, and Defence, and became a privy counsellor in 1991...
confessed to being ""economical with the actualité" under close cross examination by the defence counsel, Geoffrey Robertson
Geoffrey Robertson
Geoffrey Ronald Robertson QC is an Australian-born human rights lawyer, academic, author and broadcaster. He holds dual Australian and British citizenship....
, Gilbert Gray
Gilbert Gray
Gilbert T. Gray was an American sailor who competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics.In 1932 he was a crew member of the American boat Jupiter which won the gold medal in the Star class.-External links:*...
and James Hunt
James Hunt (judge)
Sir Patrick James Hunt was an English barrister and High Court judge.Hunt was born in Coalville in Leicestershire, where his father was a solicitor. He was educated at the Boys' Grammar School in Ashby de la Zouch, and read modern history at Keble College, Oxford...
. The case collapsed, and the defendants were acquitted. The Scott Inquiry was convened later that year.
Other trials
Smedley was also a Deputy Senior Judge of the Sovereign Base AreasSovereign Base Areas
The Sovereign Base Areas are military bases located on territory in which the United Kingdom is sovereign, but which are separated from the ordinary British territory....
of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
from 1989, and then a Senior Judge from 1991 to 1995, when became a High Court judge
High Court judge
A High Court judge is a judge of the High Court of Justice, and represents the third highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales. High Court judges are referred to as puisne judges...
. He received the customary knighthood, and was assigned to the Queen's Bench Division. In 1995, he presided at the trial of an IRA sympathiser for possessing 3.5 pounds of Semtex
Semtex
Semtex is a general-purpose plastic explosive containing RDX and PETN. It is used in commercial blasting, demolition, and in certain military applications. Semtex became notoriously popular with terrorists because it was, until recently, extremely difficult to detect, as in the case of Pan Am...
, and in 1997 at the trial of three members of an IRA bombing unit. He presided at the trial Horrett Campbell in 1996, for a machete
Machete
The machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet, though it is less commonly known...
attack on teachers and pupils at a primary school in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
earlier that year, praising the bravery of nursery nurse Lisa Potts
Lisa Potts
Lisa Potts GM is a former nursery teacher noted for saving her school children's lives from a machete attack by a man with severe paranoid schizophrenia on July 8, 1996 at the St Luke's Primary School in Blakenhall, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. Her arm was almost severed in the attack...
, who sustained horrific injuries in defending the children and was later awarded the George Medal
George Medal
The George Medal is the second level civil decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.The GM was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of The Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage...
. He also presided at the trial of Kevan Roberts in 1999 for the murder of 12-year-old Thomas Marshall, whose body was found in woods near Thetford
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...
in 1997.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/553957.stm
Retirement and death
He retired in 2000, after suffering a strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
, although he continued to sit occasionally on the Court of Appeal. He was a member of the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission from 2001. He died in Rochester, Kent. He was survived by his partner for 38 years, Peter Wright.