Sir Cecil Montacute 'Spike' Clothier
KCB QC (28 August 1919 – 8 May 2010) was a lawyer who served as a
Judge of Appeal
The Judge of Appeal is a part-time judge in the Isle of Man High Court who only sits in the Staff of Government Division, the appeal court.
The position was created by the Judicature (Amendment) Act 1918 which also amalgamated the offices of F ...
on the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
, and then as
Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) comprises the offices of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (PCA) and the Health Service Commissioner for England (HSC). The Ombudsman is responsible for considering complaints ...
and
Health Service Commissioner for England
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) comprises the offices of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (PCA) and the Health Service Commissioner for England (HSC). The Ombudsman is responsible for considering complaints ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
(Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman). He was later the first Chairman of the
Police Complaints Authority
This is a list of notable authorities, agencies and similar bodies that are responsible for investigating or responding to complaints about police.
Asia
Hong Kong
*Independent Police Complaints Council India
* Police Complaints Authority (In ...
.
Early life and army service
Clothier was born in 1919 in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
to a devout
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
family. He was educated at
Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College is a co-educational Catholic Church, Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition, on the Stonyhurst, Stonyhurst Estate, Lancashire, England. It occupies a Grade I listed building. Th ...
and won a senior history scholarship to read
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
at
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...
. The outbreak of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
cut short his studies and he refused to apply for a post in the
Judge Advocate General's office in 1939. This led to a twenty-year-long rift with his father, a dentist who had seen dreadful jaw injuries during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Clothier joined the
Royal Signals
The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...
and served with the
51st (Highland) Division
The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...
at the
Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian Railway station, railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa ...
, where he was responsible for laying communication lines and setting up radio equipment. He undertook deception duties in a radio truck and made transmissions from unmanned positions in English and Scottish accents to confuse the enemy. He discovered that the greatest danger came from enemy aircraft and from a lack of sleep, instanced by an occasion when he woke to discover that he was riding his motorcycle down an embankment into a minefield. Clothier acquired the nickname 'Spike' after a film character. He became a popular pianist in the
officers' mess
The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...
and acquired a love of flying when an American pilot offered a flight and landed on a road by a Sicilian village where they had an impromptu swim. In 1943 Clothier was transferred to Washington, D.C. where he served as a
staff officer
A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...
, sitting on committees dealing with technical developments and radio-frequency allocation. He continued his passion for flying by qualifying as a
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
. He also encountered the actress
Mae West
Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...
who was so impressed with Clothier that she said she would send her son to
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
University to learn to speak like him. Clothier developed a lasting love of the United States during his time in Washington, D.C. When Clothier left the Army in 1946, he had reached the rank of
lieutenant-colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
.
Law
Clothier returned to Oxford to complete his studies and graduated with an MA law degree. He worked for
Ferranti
Ferranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The firm was known ...
on transformers while reading for the
Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
in his spare time. Passing his exams, he applied for
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 ...
but was turned down because he was 'in trade'. An uncle, a
Bencher
A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...
and former Treasurer of Inner Temple, helped reverse the decision and Clothier 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 ...
in 1950.
Clothier started his career as a
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 ...
in Liverpool. In his first case, Clothier defended a man with 73 previous convictions accused of throwing a brick through a shop window. Clothier made his name as a skilful
industrial accident
A work accident, workplace accident, occupational accident, or accident at work is a "discrete occurrence in the course of work" leading to physical or mental occupational injury. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), more tha ...
lawyer. However, with his command of technical details, he widened his practice to
personal injury
Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. In common law jurisdictions the term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit in which the person bringing the suit (t ...
,
professional negligence and
commercial work, including
corporate crime
In criminology, corporate crime refers to crimes committed either by a corporation (i.e., a business entity having a separate legal personality from the natural persons that manage its activities), or by individuals acting on behalf of a corpor ...
. Clothier acquired a speciality in cases that involved adverse reactions to drugs – he advised
ICI over reparations for patients who had suffered side-effects from taking Eraldin and recommended that it create a scheme of full compensation.
In 1965, Clothier
took silk
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...
and was also appointed
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 ...
of
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
. When the courts were reorganised, Clothier was appointed a deputy
Crown Court
The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...
judge, serving until 1978. In 1972, Clothier was appointed a
Judge of Appeal
The Judge of Appeal is a part-time judge in the Isle of Man High Court who only sits in the Staff of Government Division, the appeal court.
The position was created by the Judicature (Amendment) Act 1918 which also amalgamated the offices of F ...
on the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
and served until 1978. When serving on the bench, Clothier was a legal assessor to the
General Medical and
Dental councils and a member of the Royal Commission on National Health.
Ombudsman
Clothier became the first Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman not to come from a
civil service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
background when he was appointed in 1978. Clothier expressed himself to be happy with the Office that he inherited from
Sir Idwal Pugh: ''coming to my task without previous close experience with the work of either Parliament or the Executive, I have been much impressed by both''. Clothier did not seek to alter the Office, but to develop it along the lines laid out by his predecessors. After a drop in the number of complaints received, the Office handled 1,031 in 1980, the fourth highest since the Office opened in 1967. Clothier continued the practice of arousing public awareness of the Office, eagerly accepting invitations to talk to groups in different parts of the country and determined that people should regard the Ombudsman as fundamental feature of the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
. ''The last thing an Ombudsman wants to be'' observed Clothier, ''is distant, cold and inaccessible''. Yet it was also important not to ''incite ''
he public
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
' to grumble about nothing in particular''. In the first statutory extension of the Ombudsman's remit since 1967, the Office was permitted to investigate the actions of
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
ar staff abroad in their duties towards United Kingdom citizens. Clothier also considered that in instances where it was questionable whether an investigation should be undertaken or not, that he would lean in favour of the complainant. Even so, if the complainant was unable to produce ''prima facie'' evidence of maladministration, Clothier was bound to reject the complaint.
Parliamentary investigations
Occasional reports were issued under s10(4)
Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967
The Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
It established the office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Parliamentary Ombudsman). The Ombudsman is responsible for investigating ...
alongside the regularly quarterly and annual reports. An important report concerned the illegal occupation of Government land in
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
by forty
gypsy
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
families in 1978. They were joined by families of
Irish travellers
Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally List of nomadic peoples#Peripatetic, peripatetic indigenous Ethnic group, ethno-cultural group ...
and serious damage to Government-owned buildings occurred. Two farmers complained to have been affected by this, and their complaints were referred to Clothier. He found that the Government was not to blame for the original occupation and that the decision to refrain from eviction had been reasonable in the circumstances. He nevertheless found that officials were unable to make a decision to bring the situation under control, that Ministers were not brought into consultation at an early enough stage and that it took too long for an agreement to be reached on the decision to be taken. Clothier was therefore able to attribute part of the losses incurred by the farmers to maladministration and considered it appropriate for the departments concerned to offer ''ex gratia'' compensation.
Another significant case was that of John Preece, who complained of a four-year delay by the
Home Office and the Scottish Home and Health Department in reviewing his conviction for murder following the suspension from duty of the forensic scientist who had been an expert witness at his trial. Clothier observed that, although it was not the duty of the Home Office to actively look for miscarriages of justice, the circumstances of the case made the matter wholly exceptional. Clothier concluded that a miscarriage of justice where a person loses his or her liberty was ''one of the gravest matters which can occupy the attention of a civilised society''. An exceptional effort was necessary to remedy the consequences of what he described as a ''pollution of justice at its source''. Clothier noted sadly that when the Home Office became aware of shortcomings which ''struck at the very roots of justice'' it did not act with the urgency that was required. The Select Committee reinforced the conclusions of Clothier, summing up the affair as ''a sorry saga''. Mr Preece, having already had his conviction quashed, received £77,000 in compensation. The Home Office identified a further 129 cases that required re-examination, 16 of which were sent to the
Court of Appeal
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
for re-consideration.
Health investigations
Clothier found that a greater number of people were becoming aware with the existence of the Office and its functions as a
Health Service Ombudsman. However, such awareness was also accompanied by misconception about what the Ombudsman did. New publicity material was issued by the Office and the
Local Government Ombudsman
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, legally the Commission for Local Administration in England and formerly known as the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO), is a service that investigates complaints from the public about councils and som ...
in 1981 which sought to explain the differences between the Parliamentary and Health Service functions exercised by the Office and the jurisdiction over local authorities exercised by the Local Government Ombudsman. Film presentations of the functions of the Office were also produced for use in schools and libraries. Clothier found it problematic that some half of all complaints he received related wholly or partly to actions arising from the exercise of clinical judgment, a matter on which he was not empowered to investigate. Clothier commented that it was ''a source of some embarrassment when I have to send rejection letters to complainants explaining this particular jurisdictional exclusion. Many find it very difficult indeed to understand or accept it.'' There was continued opposition from the medical profession to the extension of the Ombudsman's jurisdiction to encompass matters of clinical judgment. Throughout Clothier's tenure as Ombudsman, the question continued to be wrestled over by the Select Committee and the
Joint Consultants' Committee
The Joint Consultants' Committee, properly the Joint Medical Consultative Council, is a negotiating committee for NHS hospital doctors in the United Kingdom established in 1948. It represents the medical profession in discussions with the governme ...
without significant inroads being made into the medical profession's opposition. All the while, the number of complaints received by the Ombudsman increased: from 562 in 1979–80 to 895 in 1983–84.
Clothier dealt with notable cases during his time as Health Service Ombudsman. When a health authority found that a bogus doctor had operated on a number of patients it decided not to inform them that their operations had been performed by the 'doctor'. A complaint was made by the Patients' Association, however Clothier did not investigate on the grounds that there was no evidence that the Association was asked to complain on by any aggrieved individuals. Clothier also handled a case in which a local councillor had received an anonymous leaflet supporting fluoridation of water. It transpired, after four months, that the leaflet had emanated from the local health authority. Clothier concluded that the authorship of the leaflet should have been disclosed without delay. He understood that the councillor ''wished to know what Jove-like hand'' had sent the leaflet. His verdict on the leaflet itself was damning. It was ''a very poor production and far below the standard I would expect an Authority to achieve in communication with the public''. The shame at producing the ''hopeless'' leaflet did ''not excuse the subsequent administrative ineptitudes, to which only
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...
could do justice. The whole episode has been a very great waste of my time and everyone else's''. One of the most serious cases investigated by Clothier concerned a complaint from a mother that her baby was born dead due to a catalogue of failures in maternity care at the hospital. Clothier decided for the first time since the establishment of the Office to hold a formal hearing and take evidence on oath. Clothier concluded that the midwives who gave evidence were untruthful. The complainant was ''shamefully neglected at her time of need'' and that records of routine checks had been falsified. Clothier concluded that it was ''difficult to imagine a more serious failure in the service'' as the health authority admitted that the baby could have survived if reasonable care had been given to the mother.
Overview
Clothier left the office in 1984, regretful that he was alone among national ombudsmen in the world in not having powers to investigate on his own initiative and that his jurisdiction was limited to not investigating personnel and contractual matters. He also had doubts about the requirement that complaints reach the office through members of Parliament and considered the viability of a mechanism where complainants could contact the Office directly if they were dissatisfied with the progress made by the Member of Parliament in attending to the grievance.
[''The Ombudsman, Citizen and Parliament'', Gregory and Giddings (London, 2002), pp248-249] Nevertheless, Clothier had been an effective Ombudsman: ''a man of achievement and integrity; he liked to get things done and was unafraid to upset people en route.''
He had worked to enhance public awareness of the Office and appeared in one cartoon as
Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
. It had been important to Clothier ''to give the citizen a leg up against what must seem to him to be the impenetrable vastness of Whitehall''.
And although he was criticised for the slowness of his investigations, he retorted that "''my investigative powers are as good as you'll get in a democracy – the next best thing to the rack.''"
Police complaints
In 1985 Clothier was appointed to chair the
Police Complaints Authority
This is a list of notable authorities, agencies and similar bodies that are responsible for investigating or responding to complaints about police.
Asia
Hong Kong
*Independent Police Complaints Council India
* Police Complaints Authority (In ...
, commanding a dignified office in
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...
and bringing it under the authority of the
Home Affairs Select Committee
The Home Affairs Select Committee is a Departmental Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Remit
The Home Affairs Committee is one of the House of Commons Select committees related to government departments: its ...
. His term as Chairman of the Authority was a turbulent one, and he often earned the hostility of both the complainants and the police.
He noted that the
Metropolitan Police
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
received more complaints than any other force in the country and that it was also least inclined to co-operate with the Authority. Clothier sought to improve transparency and pressed for powers to dismiss unsuitable officers and to prevent officers under investigation from being able to resign with a full pension on health grounds. Revelations of miscarriages of justice caused anger, and the
Police Federation passed votes of no-confidence in the Authority and himself as chairman on four occasions. Clothier reflected that he ''would be a lot more worried if they passed a vote of confidence. It might suggest that some of the accusations that we work hand in glove with the police are true.'' Clothier was indeed accused of working hand in glove with the police. When the police used, as Clothier admitted, excessive force to break up a
hippy
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
peace convoy near
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...
, he did not recommend that a single disciplinary charge be brought against the 1,363 officers involved. When the police forcibly broke up a student demonstration in Manchester in 1985 and 100 complaints were received, officers were not required by the Authority to name colleagues who had behaved improperly. Clothier commented that ''failure to denounce one's friends and relations has never been a subject for discipline in any civilised body of people''.
Clothier followed his term at the Police Complaints Authority with appointments to the Senior Salaries Review Body from 1989 to 1995, as Vice-President of the Interception of Communications Tribunal between 1986 and 1996 and Chairman of the Committee on Ethics of Gene Therapy between 1990 and 1992. He also chaired two commissions on the governance of
Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
, one concerning policing and other concerning the constitution.
Allitt Inquiry
In 1994 at the age of 74, Clothier was appointed to head an inquiry into how a nurse,
Beverley Allitt
Beverley Gail Allitt (born 4 October 1968) is an English serial child killer who was convicted of murdering four children, attempting to murder three other children and causing grievous bodily harm to a further six.
The crimes were committed ...
, who was later diagnosed as an untreatable psychopath, was able to kill four children and attack nine others at
Grantham and Kesteven Hospital
Grantham and District Hospital, is an NHS hospital in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. It is managed by United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
History
The foundation stone for the Grantham and Kesteven Hospital was laid on 29 October 1874. It ...
. Clothier trenchantly refused to hold a public inquiry, earning him vociferous hostility from both the victims' families and widespread criticism from the media. Clothier reasoned that people were capable of telling blatant lies under oath. In the absence of friends, colleagues, parents and the press, witnesses could speak with "''a frankness which can be startling''". Clothier continued that "''if you really want to know what people are thinking in an extremely delicate matter, you need to see them in circumstances when they do not feel threatened''." Clothier was asked about the similar case of
Dr Harold Shipman
Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known by the public as Doctor Death and to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner and serial killer. He is considered to be one of the most prolif ...
in 2000 and explained that few people could be found to criticise colleagues with whom they had to work the next day, let alone voice suspicions about them committing very grave crimes. "''Most witnesses at a public inquiry say as little as possible and do their best to withhold their innermost thoughts''", Clothier remarked. "''At an inquiry held in private people gradually relax and unburden themselves of a truth which may have been tormenting them for years''."
Retirement and personal life
Clothier gradually became detached from public affairs, although he did occasionally write letters to newspapers. To the ''Daily Telegraph'' he criticised the phrase 'shoot-to-kill' on the basis that implied that it was possible to 'shoot-to-wing', an idea only applicable to the Wild West.
Medicine was important to Clothier both professionally and personally. He was elected an Honorary Anesthetist, Honorary Pharmacist and an Honorary Fellow of the
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...
. He prefaced the third edition of ''The Oxford Textbook of Medicine'', which became the first chapter of the fourth edition. The heart surgeon
Sir Magdi Yacoub
Sir Magdi Habib Yacoub ( ar, د/مجدى حبيب يعقوب ; born 16 November 1935), is an Egyptian retired professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Imperial College London, best known for his early work in repairing heart valves with surgeon ...
first operated on Clothier in 1976 and continued to care for him over many years. Clothier supported
Harefield Hospital
Harefield Hospital is a health institution in Harefield, London Borough of Hillingdon, England. It is managed by the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The first hospital on the site was the No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital es ...
at which Yacoub practised and even occasionally acted as a theatre attendant. He drafted papers which saved the hospital from closure. New research laboratories at the hospital were opened in 2002 by
Prince Michael of Kent
Prince Michael of Kent, (Michael George Charles Franklin; born 4 July 1942) is a member of the British royal family, who is 51st in the line of succession to the British throne as of September 2022. Queen Elizabeth II and Michael were first ...
and named in Clothier's honour.
Clothier retained a love of flying, taking up
gliding
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is al ...
after he gained his pilot's licence. He was also an enthusiastic sailor and enjoyed reading the novels of
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...
. Clothier's musical abilities ranged beyond playing the piano: he constructed a
clavichord
The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras.
Historically, it was mostly used as a practice instrument and as an aid to compositi ...
and a
bentside spinet and played both. Clothier was fluent in French, Italian and also spoke German, making speeches in all three. When addressing a conference in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
during his time as Ombudsman, Clothier considered it polite to address the delegates in the hosts' language, purchased a textbook and then gave a five-minute speech in
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
.
Clothier, who modestly remarked that he had "''a second-class first-class brain''", died in May 2010.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clothier, Cecil
Military personnel from Liverpool
Ombudsmen in the United Kingdom
English barristers
Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford
Members of the Inner Temple
English King's Counsel
20th-century English judges
People educated at Stonyhurst College
1919 births
2010 deaths
British Army personnel of World War II
Royal Corps of Signals officers