That is really sad news. As well as being a really good barrister, he was also a lovely person. I remember that he was really kind to me when I was going through a hard time as a junior solicitor. I have been forever grateful for that.
Like Robert I am in the deepest shock. I started instructing Bill when he was at No 7 Chambers since by then-admitted in December 1967- I was a busy Birmingham and Districts practitioner. I had nothing but a deep liking and respect for him and I still (somewhere!) have his handwritten response congratulating him on his elevation to the High Court.
We gave free legal advice together at Balsall Heath’s Lane Neighbourhood Centre (now, sadly, history itself) and I opposed him when occasionally he was prosecuting “tatty crime” in Birmingham MC, appeared before him when he was a Recorder, THE Recorder and when he was Mr. Justice. I can say that he ALWAYS took every case - “tatty” or otherwise VERY seriously. And yet, indeed, the sense of proportion and humour were always but a breath away.
It will take me a while before I can truly believe he is gone. My condolences naturally to his family.
I am very shocked to learn of Bill’s untimely passing and my sincere condolences are extended to Ginny and his family.
I got to know Bill well in the years when we both sat in Birmingham, he in the Crown Court and me in the Magistrates’ Court. We would often travel in together on the train from Leamington. I was also one of his pupils on a judicial skills course which he led, and which included a scenario set on a housing estate a few hundred yards from my home.
In more recent years, in his role as Chairman of the Sentencing Council, he was very supportive of an initiative led by West Midlands Police to tackle domestic burglary offences by focussing on repeat offenders in a constructive way, which depended on judges being willing to use deferred or suspended sentences in cases where some judges may have preferred to impose immediate custody.
His death leaves a gap which will be very difficult to fill.
That is really sad news. As well as being a really good barrister, he was also a lovely person. I remember that he was really kind to me when I was going through a hard time as a junior solicitor. I have been forever grateful for that.
Like Robert I am in the deepest shock. I started instructing Bill when he was at No 7 Chambers since by then-admitted in December 1967- I was a busy Birmingham and Districts practitioner. I had nothing but a deep liking and respect for him and I still (somewhere!) have his handwritten response congratulating him on his elevation to the High Court.
We gave free legal advice together at Balsall Heath’s Lane Neighbourhood Centre (now, sadly, history itself) and I opposed him when occasionally he was prosecuting “tatty crime” in Birmingham MC, appeared before him when he was a Recorder, THE Recorder and when he was Mr. Justice. I can say that he ALWAYS took every case - “tatty” or otherwise VERY seriously. And yet, indeed, the sense of proportion and humour were always but a breath away.
It will take me a while before I can truly believe he is gone. My condolences naturally to his family.
I am very shocked to learn of Bill’s untimely passing and my sincere condolences are extended to Ginny and his family.
I got to know Bill well in the years when we both sat in Birmingham, he in the Crown Court and me in the Magistrates’ Court. We would often travel in together on the train from Leamington. I was also one of his pupils on a judicial skills course which he led, and which included a scenario set on a housing estate a few hundred yards from my home.
In more recent years, in his role as Chairman of the Sentencing Council, he was very supportive of an initiative led by West Midlands Police to tackle domestic burglary offences by focussing on repeat offenders in a constructive way, which depended on judges being willing to use deferred or suspended sentences in cases where some judges may have preferred to impose immediate custody.
His death leaves a gap which will be very difficult to fill.