As then chair of the Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee I had met the then Recorder of the Central Criminal Court Sir Michael Hyams at one of the myriad of seminars and conferences arranged during the Auld Review. “My” Committee prevailed upon me to go and see him with some ideas they (and I) had held to be important and so after our next meeting off I and then policy adviser went in the early evening. Ushered into his presence in his private room, we found ourselves in an otherwise deserted Old Bailey. After perhaps an hour’s -as I still believe- useful discussion as we were taking our leave I had chanced to remark that I had never previously been in that august building and so with no further ado he took us on a guided tour, much to the alarm of a youngish member of the bar putting in some quiet overtime in Court Number One. Sir Michael was -to us- charming and most welcoming although sadly he died many years ago now. Please forgive the reminiscence.
As then chair of the Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee I had met the then Recorder of the Central Criminal Court Sir Michael Hyams at one of the myriad of seminars and conferences arranged during the Auld Review. “My” Committee prevailed upon me to go and see him with some ideas they (and I) had held to be important and so after our next meeting off I and then policy adviser went in the early evening. Ushered into his presence in his private room, we found ourselves in an otherwise deserted Old Bailey. After perhaps an hour’s -as I still believe- useful discussion as we were taking our leave I had chanced to remark that I had never previously been in that august building and so with no further ado he took us on a guided tour, much to the alarm of a youngish member of the bar putting in some quiet overtime in Court Number One. Sir Michael was -to us- charming and most welcoming although sadly he died many years ago now. Please forgive the reminiscence.