Brian John Barker (born 1945) is a British retired judge. From February 2013 to January 2015 he served as the Recorder of London, the most senior judge at the Old Bailey. Prior to that he was the Common Serjeant of London, the second most senior judge at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

. Barker graduated from Birmingham University with an LLB degree in law in 1966. He 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 ...

by Gray's Inn in 1969, and was a leading criminal

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 ...

, acting as a prosecutor and a defender. He served as chairman of the Criminal Bar Association. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1990, and was appointed a circuit judge at the Old Bailey in 2000. He succeeded Peter Beaumont as Recorder of London in February 2013, to become the most senior judge at the Old Bailey.Next Recorder of London announced: His Honour Judge Brian Barker QC
, City of London, 10 December 2012 Barker had previously served as the 79th Common Serjeant of London since 2005, the second most senior judge at the

, again succeeding Judge Peter Beaumont QC.Judicial Appointments
Central Office of Information, 1 July 2005. Retrieved 22 September 2008. The Recorder of London and the Common Serjeant are both ancient offices, first recorded in the 13th century. At the Old Bailey Barker presided over trials including those of

Umran Javed Umran Javed (born 1979) is a former spokesman for Al-Muhajiroun, a designated and banned terrorist organisation. A British court found Javed guilty of soliciting to murder and inciting racial hatred for repeatedly chanting "bomb, bomb, USA," "bom ...

, the murderers of

Jody Dobrowski Jody may refer to: *Jody (given name), a list of people with the given name *Jody (singer), French singer, real name Julie Erikssen * "Jody" (song), 1986 single by Jermaine Stewart *"Jody", a 1982 song by America from ''View from the Ground'' *"Jod ...

, the murder trial of rapper '

Crazy Titch Carl Dobson (born 31 January 1983), better known by his stage name Crazy Titch, is a British grime MC who is now serving a life sentence for murder. Crazy Titch was a successful and well-known grime MC during his active period. Early life and ed ...

', aka Carl Dobson, and the

murder of Ben Kinsella Ben Michael Kinsella (27 October 1991 – 29 June 2008) was a 16-year-old student at Holloway School who was stabbed to death in an attack by three men in June 2008 in Islington. The significant media attention around his murder (the 17th st ...

. In May 2016, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland Rt. Hon Theresa Villiers MP announced the appointment of Barker to the dual role of chair of the Northern Ireland Committee on Protection and Independent Reviewer of National Security Arrangements in Northern Ireland. In December 2016 the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) announced that, following an open competition, it had appointed Barker as its first judicial panel chairman. In May 2017 Barker appeared as the judge in '' The Trial: A Murder in the Family'' on Channel 4. Barker is married to Dame Anne Rafferty DBE PC, one of the United Kingdom's few female Appeal Court judges, with whom he has three daughters. Another daughter, who had Down syndrome, died aged two. He lists his hobbies as golf and sheep rearing. Barker is a governor of

Sir John Cass's Foundation Sir John Cass (February 1661 – 5 July 1718) was an English merchant, Tory Member of Parliament and philanthropist. He was also a key figure in the Royal African Company, which was involved in the Atlantic slave trade. Biography Early li ...

, one of London's oldest and largest education charities, which was founded in 1748. Barker is a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

, a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Coopers and an Honorary Liveryman of the

Curriers' Company The Worshipful Company of Curriers is one of the ancient livery companies of London, associated with the leather trade. The curriers, or "curers of leather", of London formed an organisation in 1272; this merchant guild was recognised in 1415 ...

. Barker was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to the administration of justice and to charity.

References

External links

Barker presiding over the Martin Dinnegan murder trialBarker presiding over the Tom-Louis Easton murder trialSpeech given by Barker to The Worshipful Company of Arbitrators
">Worshipful Company of Arbitrators">Speech given by Barker to The Worshipful Company of Arbitrators
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Brian 1945 births Living people English barristers 21st-century English judges 20th-century King's Counsel English King's Counsel Common Serjeants of London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the University of Birmingham Recorders of London Members of Gray's Inn Circuit judges (England and Wales)