Alan King Hamilton

It is generally accepted, if an unwritten rule, that those on the bench in a court of law are to keep personal opinions to themselves. They exist purely to preside over proceedings and ensure that any trial does not descend into farce. Alan King-
Hamilton was famous for taking a somewhat different approach to his role as an Old Bailey judge. It was not uncommon for him to offer his point of view at the culmination of a trial, or even to temporarily halt proceedings to announce the score line of the current Test match. He will be remembered not only for his solid, succinct style, but also for his more maverick tendencies.
King Hamilton was the judge on some of the biggest and most famous cases at the Old Bailey in the 1960s and 70s. He also created some of the Old Bailey's most memorable moments.

In addition to frequently stopping mid-trial to talk cricket scores, in 1970 he halted a defence lawyer in his tracks by informing him that his client should have pleaded guilty. Actions that were later described in the court of appeal as "wholly improper". He also sent flowers to a female juror, and advised the jury of a five-month long trial to "get flu jabs".

He was a renowned moralist who had a tendency to impose sentences that others would consider to be somewhat harsh. In the 1976 Bank of America safe-break case, he ruled that the defendant serve 23 years behind bars to ensure that he would never benefit from his crime.

In the case of Emil Savundra fraud trial in 1968, King-Hamilton decreed an eight-year prison term but followed this up in his memoirs by describing Savundra thus: "What a man. How could one not admire his spirit?" He named him alongside Cleopatra in his perfect dinner party guest list.

In 1973, while presiding over the Janie Jones case, King-Hamilton, in no way adverse to a theatrical turn of phrase, described the defendant as "the most evil woman he had ever met", although Jones recalls his words slightly differently claiming he actually said "of all the women I've ever tried, you are the most evil. I thought one woman was really evil, but you leave that woman in the shade."

He handed her a seven-year sentence for procuring women in to prostitution, blackmail and perverting the course of justice. The length of her sentence was based partially on her crimes and partially because King-Hamilton had taken exception to her apparently flawed moral values.

Possibly his most high-profile case came in the Gay News trial. Denis Lemon, the editor, had published a poem, The Love that Dares to Speak its Name , on 3 June, 1976. The poem is the description of a Roman centurion having sex with Jesus post-crucifixion, while making claims that Jesus was more than a little promiscuous.Mary Whitehouse took the issue to court and the result was a £1,000 fine for Gay News and a £500 fine and two-year suspended sentence for its editor. King-Hamilton described his decision on whether or not to send Lemon to gaol as "touch and go".

In his final case at the Old Bailey in 1979, King-Hamilton signed off in typical style. The case had ended and the jury had reached its decision and acquitted four alleged anarchists. The charges of conspiracy to rob and various firearms offences had been quashed and King-Hamilton was, for want of a better word, furious. Fourteen arduous weeks had passed with not a single conviction, which led the outspoken judge to state that he felt the jury had been "remarkably merciful in the face of the evidence" followed by "I hope to God none of you will ever have occasion to regret it".

In his time as an Old Bailey judge, King-Hamilton divided opinion and sparked controversy. He also built a reputation as an eccentric, witty and entertaining member of the bench. He was a fan of corporal punishment, a staunch advocate of using stocks and public humiliation as methods of rehabilitation and firmly believed that the reintroduction of National Service would be the best way to steer youths away from criminal activity.

Alan King-Hamilton died on 23 March , 2010, aged 105. His wife Rosalind died in 1991 and he is survived by their two daughters. British justice it would seem is better off without the Alan King Hamilton's of the world!