Frederick Geoffrey Lawrence
Encyclopedia
Sir Frederick Geoffrey Lawrence QC
(5 April 1902–3 February 1967) was a British
lawyer
, High Court
Judge
, Chairman of the Bar Council
and Chairman of the National Incomes Commission. He first came to prominence when he defended suspected serial killer
Dr John Bodkin Adams
in 1957, the first murder case he handled. Press coverage of the case prior to the trial suggested Adams was guilty and that the verdict would be a foregone conclusion, but Lawrence successfully secured an acquittal
. Adams, if convicted, would have hanged
. (Considerable, later investigation suggested Adams was acquitted largely due to inadequate prosecution preparations.)
before going up to New College
, Oxford
. He enjoyed a variety of sports, but his main recreation was music, being an accomplished pianist and violinist. He was President of the University Musical Club. After graduation he acted as tutor to two sons of Jan Masaryk
, travelling with the family to the United States of America, and Prague
. They remained close friends until the murder of Masaryk during the Czech coup in 1948. Having decided to enter the law, Lawrence was awarded a Harmsworth scholarship and became a pupil
to Eric Neve, being called to the Bar in 1930 from Middle Temple
.
Pensotti, an RAF judge advocate who had been court martialled for interfering with the papers of another court martial in 1943. Lawrence and Monckton effectively turned the hearing into a retrial of the original case (despite the absence of the original witnesses), and the disciplinary hearing took no action against Pensotti, but the original court martial verdict stood. After the war, Pensotti attempted to clear his name and this first brought Lawrence's name to the attention of the press.
Lawrence now began to specialise in planning, parliamentary and divorce cases. Time Magazine described Lawrence as a "puck
ish, mousy little man with a mind as orderly as a calculating machine". Cullen describes him similarly as "used to digesting boring technicalities", though Robert Hounsome highlights his "magnetic oratory style. 'Certainly no-one, other than his brothers (both in the legal profession) can make such polysyllables as "cerebral" and "respiratory" sound like something out of Keats
'" He first achieved judicial office in 1948 with his appointment as Recorder
(a part-time judge) of Tenterden
. He was appointed a King's Counsel (KC) in 1950, and in 1951 he was appointed as a member of a Royal Commission
investigating the laws on marriage and divorce (Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorce). In 1952 he was appointed Recorder of Canterbury
, and in 1953, Chairman of the Court of Quarter Sessions for West Sussex
.
In 1957 Lawrence defended John Bodkin Adams and in 1958 he successfully defended Charles Ridge, Chief Constable
of Brighton
, England
, who was charged with conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice by taking bribes.
Lawrence was chairman of the Bar Council from 1960 to 1962. In 1962 he was appointed to chair the National Income Commission), the Commission was dissolved in 1965. He was knighted
in the 1963 New Year Honours
. In 1964 Lawrence was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant
of Sussex
, and chaired the Committee on the Remuneration of Ministers and Members of Parliament
(known informally as "the Lawrence Committee").
He was appointed a High Court judge on 30 September 1965, but fell ill not long after. He died in 1967.
. Adams was arrested in 1956 for the murder of two elderly widows, Gertrude Hullett
and Edith Alice Morrell
. He was tried for the murder of the latter in 1957 with the prosecution, led by Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller, alleging that he had killed her with excessive doses of heroin and morphine
. Lawrence was hired by the Medical Defence Union
to defend Adams - making this Lawrence's first capital case. Indeed, Time Magazine described Lawrence as "a relative stranger in criminal court". His number two was Edward Clarke QC and junior counsel was John Heritage.
Lawrence's conduct of the defence was admired by many. On just the second day of the trial he dropped a bombshell. While cross-examining
a witness, one of the nurses who had taken care of Mrs Morrell, some "notebooks" the nurses had kept were mentioned. Unfortunately they had long ago gone 'missing'. Lawrence summarised the situation:
"If only we had those old books we could see the truth of exactly what happened."
To the surprise of all in court, he then produced 8 notebooks which had been written by the nurses, detailing their and Adams' treatment of Morrell. The prosecution was wrong-footed and never fully recovered. Testimony from expert witness
es for the prosecution, Dr Arthur Douthwaite
and Dr Michael Ashby
, was rendered ineffectual due to them having prepared their hypothesis of murder without having had access to this detailed evidence. When they adjusted their evidence to take the notebooks into account, they were accused by Lawrence of being inconsistent.
Lawrence again surprised the court with his unexpected decision not to call the defendant as a witness. Although it was not obligatory for the defendant to give his or her version of events, since the turn of the century (when it became legal, having previously been banned) it had become an expected part of every trial. Therefore, when Lawrence announced that Adams would not speak in his own defence, it shocked all present in court, including the judge. Most surprised however, was prosecutor Manningham-Buller. He had been banking on Adams giving evidence, and being able to find the holes in his explanation of events. When this opportunity was not presented, a major prosecution strategy disappeared.
Lawrence is also remembered for his final address to the jury:
Adams was acquitted after just 44 minutes and the case made Lawrence's reputation.
under Sir Hugh Allen
.
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...
(5 April 1902–3 February 1967) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
Judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, Chairman of the Bar Council
Bar council
A bar council , in a Commonwealth country and in the Republic of Ireland, the Bar Council of Ireland is a professional body that regulates the profession of barristers together with the King's Inns. Solicitors are generally regulated by the Law society....
and Chairman of the National Incomes Commission. He first came to prominence when he defended suspected serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
Dr John Bodkin Adams
John Bodkin Adams
John Bodkin Adams was an Irish-born British general practitioner, convicted fraudster and suspected serial killer. Between the years 1946 and 1956, more than 160 of his patients died in suspicious circumstances. Of these, 132 left him money or items in their will. He was tried and acquitted for...
in 1957, the first murder case he handled. Press coverage of the case prior to the trial suggested Adams was guilty and that the verdict would be a foregone conclusion, but Lawrence successfully secured an acquittal
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
. Adams, if convicted, would have hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
. (Considerable, later investigation suggested Adams was acquitted largely due to inadequate prosecution preparations.)
Early life
The son of a master butcher and a singing teacher, Lawrence was educated at the City of London SchoolCity of London School
The City of London School is a boys' independent day school on the banks of the River Thames in the City of London, England. It is the brother school of the City of London School for Girls and the co-educational City of London Freemen's School...
before going up to New College
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. He enjoyed a variety of sports, but his main recreation was music, being an accomplished pianist and violinist. He was President of the University Musical Club. After graduation he acted as tutor to two sons of Jan Masaryk
Jan Masaryk
Jan Garrigue Masaryk was a Czech diplomat and politician and Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1940 to 1948.- Early life :...
, travelling with the family to the United States of America, and Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. They remained close friends until the murder of Masaryk during the Czech coup in 1948. Having decided to enter the law, Lawrence was awarded a Harmsworth scholarship and became a pupil
Pupillage
A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, is the barrister's equivalent of the training contract that a solicitor undertakes...
to Eric Neve, being called to the Bar in 1930 from Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
.
Career
Before the Second World War Lawrence had built a respected general law practice on the south-eastern circuit. In 1944 he acted as junior to Sir Walter Monckton in a disciplinary hearing against Flight LieutenantFlight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
Pensotti, an RAF judge advocate who had been court martialled for interfering with the papers of another court martial in 1943. Lawrence and Monckton effectively turned the hearing into a retrial of the original case (despite the absence of the original witnesses), and the disciplinary hearing took no action against Pensotti, but the original court martial verdict stood. After the war, Pensotti attempted to clear his name and this first brought Lawrence's name to the attention of the press.
Lawrence now began to specialise in planning, parliamentary and divorce cases. Time Magazine described Lawrence as a "puck
Puck (Shakespeare)
Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, is a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream that was based on the ancient figure in English mythology, also called Puck. Puck is a clever and mischievous elf and personifies the trickster or the wise knave...
ish, mousy little man with a mind as orderly as a calculating machine". Cullen describes him similarly as "used to digesting boring technicalities", though Robert Hounsome highlights his "magnetic oratory style. 'Certainly no-one, other than his brothers (both in the legal profession) can make such polysyllables as "cerebral" and "respiratory" sound like something out of Keats
John Keats
John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
'" He first achieved judicial office in 1948 with his appointment as 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...
(a part-time judge) of Tenterden
Tenterden
Tenterden is a Cinque Port town in the Ashford District of Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother....
. He was appointed a King's Counsel (KC) in 1950, and in 1951 he was appointed as a member of a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
investigating the laws on marriage and divorce (Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorce). In 1952 he was appointed Recorder of Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, and in 1953, Chairman of the Court of Quarter Sessions for West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
.
In 1957 Lawrence defended John Bodkin Adams and in 1958 he successfully defended Charles Ridge, Chief Constable
Chief Constable
Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...
of Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, 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...
, who was charged with conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice by taking bribes.
Lawrence was chairman of the Bar Council from 1960 to 1962. In 1962 he was appointed to chair the National Income Commission), the Commission was dissolved in 1965. He was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in the 1963 New Year Honours
New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the New Year annually in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen Elizabeth II...
. In 1964 Lawrence was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
of Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, and chaired the Committee on the Remuneration of Ministers and Members of Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
(known informally as "the Lawrence Committee").
He was appointed a High Court judge on 30 September 1965, but fell ill not long after. He died in 1967.
Bodkin Adams case
Lawrence made his name defending Dr John Bodkin AdamsJohn Bodkin Adams
John Bodkin Adams was an Irish-born British general practitioner, convicted fraudster and suspected serial killer. Between the years 1946 and 1956, more than 160 of his patients died in suspicious circumstances. Of these, 132 left him money or items in their will. He was tried and acquitted for...
. Adams was arrested in 1956 for the murder of two elderly widows, Gertrude Hullett
Gertrude Hullett
Gertrude "Bobby" Hullett , a resident of Eastbourne, East Sussex, England, was a patient of the suspected serial killer Dr John Bodkin Adams, who was charged with her murder but never tried for it.-Jack Hullett:...
and Edith Alice Morrell
Edith Alice Morrell
Edith Alice Morrell , was a resident of Eastbourne and patient of the suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams. He was tried for her murder in 1957 but acquitted...
. He was tried for the murder of the latter in 1957 with the prosecution, led by Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller, alleging that he had killed her with excessive doses of heroin and morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
. Lawrence was hired by the Medical Defence Union
Medical Defence Union
The Medical Defence Union is the largest medical defence union in the United Kingdom, and is one of three major medical defence organisations in the country.The MDU was established in 1885 and was the first of its kind in the world...
to defend Adams - making this Lawrence's first capital case. Indeed, Time Magazine described Lawrence as "a relative stranger in criminal court". His number two was Edward Clarke QC and junior counsel was John Heritage.
Lawrence's conduct of the defence was admired by many. On just the second day of the trial he dropped a bombshell. While cross-examining
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
a witness, one of the nurses who had taken care of Mrs Morrell, some "notebooks" the nurses had kept were mentioned. Unfortunately they had long ago gone 'missing'. Lawrence summarised the situation:
"If only we had those old books we could see the truth of exactly what happened."
To the surprise of all in court, he then produced 8 notebooks which had been written by the nurses, detailing their and Adams' treatment of Morrell. The prosecution was wrong-footed and never fully recovered. Testimony from expert witness
Expert witness
An expert witness, professional witness or judicial expert is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have expertise and specialised knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially and legally...
es for the prosecution, Dr Arthur Douthwaite
Arthur Henry Douthwaite
Arthur Henry Douthwaite was a British doctor, Vice President of the Royal College of Physicians and a prolific medical textbook writer. He was the foremost expert on heroin in Britain in the 1950s, leading to him being called as an expert witness in the trial of suspected serial killer Dr John...
and Dr Michael Ashby
Michael Ashby
Michael George Corbett Ashby, M.A., M.B., M.R.C.P., F.R.C.P. was a consultant neurologist at the Whittington Hospital, London and an expert witness for the prosecution in the failed trial of suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams.-Life:Ashby was born in London, the son of Arthur Brian Ashby, a...
, was rendered ineffectual due to them having prepared their hypothesis of murder without having had access to this detailed evidence. When they adjusted their evidence to take the notebooks into account, they were accused by Lawrence of being inconsistent.
Lawrence again surprised the court with his unexpected decision not to call the defendant as a witness. Although it was not obligatory for the defendant to give his or her version of events, since the turn of the century (when it became legal, having previously been banned) it had become an expected part of every trial. Therefore, when Lawrence announced that Adams would not speak in his own defence, it shocked all present in court, including the judge. Most surprised however, was prosecutor Manningham-Buller. He had been banking on Adams giving evidence, and being able to find the holes in his explanation of events. When this opportunity was not presented, a major prosecution strategy disappeared.
Lawrence is also remembered for his final address to the jury:
Adams was acquitted after just 44 minutes and the case made Lawrence's reputation.
Personal life
In 1941 Lawrence married Marjorie Avice. She survived him and they had no children. In his spare time Lawrence was an accomplished violinist, having played first violin for the orchestra of the Oxford Bach ChoirOxford Bach Choir
The Oxford Bach Choir is one of the UK's best-known amateur choirs. It was founded by Basil Harwood in 1896 and is based in Oxford, England.There are around 200 voices in the choir...
under Sir Hugh Allen
Hugh Allen (conductor)
Sir Hugh Percy Allen was an English musician, academic and administrator. He was a leading influence on British musical life in the first half of the 20th century.-Early years:...
.