Frederick Henry Derek Curtis-Bennett, QC (29 February 1904 – July 1956) 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 ...

who defended some of the most notorious characters in British legal history, but whose career was cut short by alcoholism. His father was Sir Henry Curtis-Bennett KC, whose biography he wrote with Roland Wild.

Early life and career

Curtis-Bennett was educated at Radley College and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He was called to the bar in 1926 and specialised in criminal defence. He became

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of Guildford in 1942 and a

King's Counsel 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 ...

the following year. Among those that Curtis-Bennett defended were William Joyce (Lord Haw Haw), serial killer John Christie (1953), Sergeant Frederick Emmett-Dunne, atom spy

Klaus Fuchs Klaus Emil Julius Fuchs (29 December 1911 – 28 January 1988) was a German theoretical physicist and atomic spy who supplied information from the American, British and Canadian Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union during and shortly aft ...

, and Burmese politician

U Saw U Saw, also known as Galon U Saw ( my-Mymr, ဦးစော or my-Mymr, ဂဠုန်ဦးစော, lit. Garuda U Saw, ; 16 March 1900 – 8 May 1948), was a leading Burmese politician who served as Prime Minister of British Burma dur ...

. Curtis-Bennett pursued the truth in the Christie case as his client admitted more and more murders, despite it being injurious to his defence.

Family

Curtis-Bennett married Margaret Duncan in 1928, which marriage was dissolved in 1949. There were three children. He married Janet Farquhar in 1955, who killed herself in 1956.

Death

Curtis-Bennett died from asphyxiation after collapsing while highly intoxicated. He was discovered at his home in Courtfield Gardens, Earls Court, London, on 23 July 1956 Following medical evidence showing considerable liver damage, the coroner commented that the verdict "must be one of alcoholism". Curtis-Bennett died just two months after his wife, Janet Farquhar Curtis-Bennett (aged 26), killed herself with a drug overdose. It was stated at Janet's inquest that relations between her and her husband had been troubled."Mrs. Curtis-Bennett Took Own Life". ''The Times'', 15 May 1956, p. 7.

Selected publications

*''"Curtis." The life of Sir Henry Curtis-Bennett, K.C.'' London, Cassell & Co., 1937. (With Roland Wild)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis-Bennett, Derek 1904 births 1956 deaths 20th-century British lawyers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the Bar of England and Wales People educated at Radley College English King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel