Sir Anthony Brian Hidden (7 March 1936 – 19 February 2016) was a British

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 ...

and judge, known for chairing the enquiry into the 1988

Clapham Junction rail crash The Clapham Junction railway crash occurred on the morning of 12 December 1988, when a crowded British Rail passenger train crashed into the rear of another train that had stopped at a signal just south of Clapham Junction railway station in L ...

Biography

Anthony Hidden was educated at

Reigate Grammar School Reigate Grammar School is a 2–18 mixed independent day school in Reigate, Surrey, England. It was established in 1675 by Henry Smith. History The school was founded as a free school for poor boys in 1675 by Alderman Henry Smith with Jon Will ...

becoming

head boy Head boy and head girl are student leadership roles in schools, representing the school's entire student body. They are normally the most senior prefects in the school. The terms are commonly used in the British education system as well as in Aus ...

in 1954, and graduated from

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

in 1957. He served with the Royal Tank Regiment, and was called to the Bar 1961. He was made a Queen's counsel in 1976, appointed 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 ...

in 1977, and for four years served as presiding judge on the South-East circuit. Anthony Hidden was a member of the Cornerstone Barristers practice. He acted as prosecuting counsel in the trial of

Lester Piggott Lester Keith Piggott (5 November 1935 – 29 May 2022) was an English professional jockey and trainer. With 4,493 career flat racing wins in Britain, including a record nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

for tax evasion. He was appointed a High Court Judge in 1989, and received a knighthood in the same year. An early controversial case in which he presided was to ascertain whether compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder should be awarded to individuals who witnessed on television their relatives in distressed states during the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...

. Hidden ruled for the claimants, but the finding was reversed upon appeals at the Court of Appeal and the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. He suffered a stroke in 2000, and after a later second stroke was confined to a nursing home for the last ten years of his life.

Clapham Junction rail crash enquiry

At the invitation of

Paul Channon Henry Paul Guinness Channon, Baron Kelvedon, (9 October 1935 – 27 January 2007) was Conservative MP for Southend West for 38 years, from 1959 until 1997. He served in various ministerial offices, and was a Cabinet minister for 3½ years, as ...

, the

Secretary of State for Transport The Secretary of State for Transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent i ...

, Hidden chaired an enquiry into the causes of the 12 December 1988

, in which 35 people died and nearly 500 were injured. He won praise for his unrelenting approach throughout the 56-day hearing, and for the thoroughness of his report. The enquiry report (known as the ''Hidden Report'') made 93 recommendations for safety and other improvements, including the adoption of the Automatic Train Protection system. Although his recommendations led to major improvements in rail safety and safety culture in the UK, equally, a number of the recommendations – including ATP, on-train data recorders and cab radios – were not acted on, or implemented only after great delay or partially.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hidden, Anthony 1936 births 2016 deaths Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge 20th-century English judges English King's Counsel Royal Tank Regiment soldiers People educated at Reigate Grammar School Queen's Bench Division judges Knights Bachelor 20th-century British Army personnel