Frederick Lawton (judge)

Sir Frederick Horace Lawton (21 December 1911 – 3 February 2001) was a British barrister and judge who served as Lord Justice of appeal from 1972 to 1986.

The Right Honourable

Sir Frederick Lawton
Lord Justice of Appeal
In office
11 January 1972 – 21 December 1986
Preceded byLord Justice Salmon
Justice of the High Court
In office
9 January 1961 – 11 January 1972
Personal details
Born
Frederick Horace Lawson

(1911-12-21)21 December 1911
Camberwell, London
Died3 February 2001(2001-02-03) (aged 89)
York
Children2
Alma materCorpus Christi College, Cambridge

Early life and career

Frederick Lawton was born in Wandsworth, London, the son of William John Lawton and Ethel, née Hanley. His father, a former insurance agent, had joined the Prison Service, and became Governor of Wandsworth Prison, the first prison governor to rise from the ranks.[1] He was educated at Battersea Grammar School and at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. where he took first-class honours in part one of the History tripos and an upper second-class honours in part two of the Law tripos.

After flirting with Communism at Cambridge, Lawton joined the British Union of Fascists and founded the Cambridge University Fascist Association. In 1936 he was adopted as the BUF's candidate for Hammersmith North, but did not contest the seat owing to the postponement of the 1940 general elections due to the Second World War.[2][3]

Lawton was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1935, and joined the chambers of Norman Birkett at 1 Brick Court. As a junior barrister, he defended members of the BUF charged under the Public Order Act 1936. Around that time he converted to Catholicism, which became an important part of his life.[1]

On 4 August 1937 Lawton married Doreen Wilton (d. 1979) a typist and the daughter of a Prison Service clerical officer; they had two sons.

Lawton served briefly in the London Irish Rifles during the Second World War, but was invalidated out due to a training accident in 1941.[2] The war ended his association with the Far Right, and he later joined the Conservative Party.[3] Resuming his practice at the bar, initially at Sir Edward Marshall Hall's set at 3 Temple Gardens, then at 5 King's Bench Walk.

Lawton's career took off in 1942, when he unsuccessfully defended Harry Dobkin, a fire-watcher who murdered his wife during the Blitz. He became known as a leading criminal barrister, although he also appeared in civil matters, notably in defamation cases. Among his cases were the 1956 prosecution of the Soviet discus thrower Nina Ponomaryova for shoplifting, the defence of the train driver involved in the 1957 Lewisham rail crash, and the unsuccessful 1959 defence of Guenther Podola for murder.

Lawton became a Queen's Counsel in 1957, and was appointed Recorder of Cambridge the same year. As a QC, he was reportedly the highest earner at the criminal bar. He was highly regarded as a pupil master, and amongst his pupils were Margaret Thatcher and Robin Day.

Judicial career

High Court

Lawton was appointed to the High Court of Justice in 1961, assigned to the Queen's Bench Division, and received the customary knighthood. In 1967, he tried the gangster Charles Richardson (of the Richardson Gang fame), sentencing him to 25 years' imprisonment. In 1969 he tried the Kray twins, had already been convicted of two murders, for a third murder; they were acquitted. He was deputy chairman of Cornwall quarter sessions from 1968 until their abolition.

On the civil side, in 1964 Lawton presided over the high-profile libel case bought by Polish-born Dr Wladislaw Dering against the American novelist Leon Uris. As the case concerned events that took place during the Holocaust some expressed doubt about Lawton's suitability for the case, given his former political views. In the event, there were no complaints against his handling handled the trial. In 1970, he tried Broome v Cassell, another high-profile libel trial concerning events that occurred during the Second World War.

As a criminal judge, Lawton was regarded as efficient and fair, though prone to pass severe sentences in serious cases.

Court of Appeal

Lawton was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1972, and was sworn of the Privy Council. For a time Lawton often sat with Lord Denning and Lord Diplock on civil appeals: as the two men frequently disagreed Lawton was often required to deliver leading judgments in matters where he had little experience. In 1973, he criticised the Director of Public Prosecutions for offering Bertie Smalls, the first so-called "supergrass", immunity in exchange for his testimony. The law lords referred to the transaction as an "unholy deal", but allowed it to stand.

Lawton was influential in advocating for sentencing guidelines and for the expanded use of non-custodial sentences. He was a member of the Criminal Law Revision Committee from 1959 to 1985, and its chairman from 1977. On his appointment as chair, the barrister Louis Blom-Cooper described him as "the most knowledgeable and robust exponent of the criminal justice system as an effective instrument of social control".

Lawton retired in 1986.

Public persona

Sir Frederick made several comments during his judicial career which attracted scrutiny.

In 1967 he told Charlie Richardson from the bench, after sentencing him to serve 25 years at the end of the "Torture Trial", "One is ashamed to live in a society that contains men like you."

He also once controversially remarked that "Wife beating may be socially acceptable in Sheffield, but it is a different matter in Cheltenham."

In 1981, when a demonstration for nuclear disarmament got out of hand, he remarked that "a good South Devon bull might work wonders" (the demonstrations took place in Cornwall in the West Country).

In 1987, after he retired, he complained of the difficulty prosecuting "the gyppos and tinkers who invade a farmer's land".

Cases

In the Court of Appeal his reported decisions included:

Lawton was also involved in the early appeals of the Guildford Four.[3]

Sources

References
  1. "Obituary: Sir Frederick Lawton". The Daily Telegraph. 6 February 2001. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  2. James Morton (5 February 2001). "Obituary: Lord Justice Lawton". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  3. Chris Mullin (2009). A View from the Foothills : The Diaries of Chris Mullin. Profile Books. p. 169. ISBN 9781846682230.
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