Sir Alan Fraser Wilkie (born 26 December 1947), styled The Honourable Mr Justice Wilkie, is a former British judge and

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

. He retired on 31 January 2017.

Early life

Wilkie was born on 26 December 1947. He was educated at

Hutchesons' Grammar School Hutchesons' Grammar School is a co-educational independent day school for pupils aged 3-18 in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded as Hutchesons' Boys' Grammar School by George Hutcheson and Thomas Hutcheson in 1641 It is a selective school, m ...

, a

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland, and

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...

, an all-boys independent school in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England.‘WILKIE, Hon. Sir Alan (Fraser)’, Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014 He studied law at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

Legal career

Wilkie was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1974. He was made a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

(QC) on 28 April 1992. On 27 January 1995, he was appointed to the South Eastern Circuit as a

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

, a part-time judge. Wilkie became a full-time judge in 1997. On 9 April, he was appointed a circuit judge. He has been a

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cou ...

(Queen's Bench Division) since 1 October 2004. He was a

Presiding Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

of the North Eastern Circuit from 2007 to 2010. On 1 April 2012, he was appointed to the

Judicial Appointments Commission The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is an independent commission that selects candidates for judicial office in courts and tribunals in England and Wales and for some tribunals whose jurisdiction extends to Scotland or Northern Ireland. Sy ...

for a five-year period. Notable cases that Wilkie presided over include the trial of

Lord Ahmed Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed ( ur, , born 24 April 1957) is a former British Labour politician of Pakistani origin. He was appointed a life peer in 1998 by the Labour Government. Many of his political activities related to the Muslim communi ...

for death by dangerous driving, the Milly Dowler murder trial, the trial of Bishop Peter Ball for sexual abuse, and the trial of Thomas Mair for the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

of Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox. Wilkie sentenced "canoe man" John Darwin and his wife, Anne, in 2008. He concluded that the London Bridge Terrorist Usman Kahn was so dangerous "that the public could only be protected by the imposition of an indeterminate sentence". This conclusion was overturned by the Court of Appeal under

Lord Leveson Sir Brian Henry Leveson (; born 22 June 1949) is a retired English judge who served as the President of the Queen's Bench Division and Head of Criminal Justice. Leveson chaired the Leveson Inquiry, public inquiry into the culture, practices a ...

with the result that Kahn was let out on licence and stabbed two people to death in November 2019.

Personal life

Wilkie married Susan in 1972.

Honours

Wilkie was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

upon becoming a High Court Judge in 2004. He is an Honorary Member of

The Society of Legal Scholars The Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) is the learned society for those who teach law in a university or similar institution or who are otherwise engaged in legal scholarship. As of the beginning of 2016 the Society had over 3,000 members consisting ...

References

1947 births Living people People educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School People educated at Manchester Grammar School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple Queen's Bench Division judges Knights Bachelor English King's Counsel {{UK-law-bio-stub

Early life

Legal career

Personal life

Honours

See also

References