Sir Graham Russell Swanwick,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(24 August 1906 – 23 June 2003) was a British barrister and High Court judge. He is best remembered for leading the prosecution against

James Hanratty James Hanratty (4 October 1936 – 4 April 1962), also known as the A6 Murderer, was a British criminal who was one of the final eight people in the UK to be executed before capital punishment was effectively abolished. He was hanged at Bedfo ...

, the 'A6 murderer', one of the last men to be hanged in England.

Biography

Early life and legal career

Swanwick was the son of Eric Drayton Swanwick, a solicitor, and Margery Eleanor (''née'' Norton), of Whittington House,

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

. Educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

, 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 the

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 1930 and joined the old Midland Circuit. During 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 ...

, Swanwick served in the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

from 1940 to 1945, serving first at

RAF Uxbridge RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Uxbridge, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, occupying a site that originally belonged to the Hillingdon House estate. The British Government purchased the estate in 1915, three years ...

with the

2nd Tactical Air Force The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, ...

, then in Brussels and in Germany. Rising to the rank of

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

, he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

and appointed a

(Military Division) in 1944. Returning to the Bar after the war, Swanwick moved from common law to criminal and civil work. He practised from 1 King's Bench Walk (later 36 Bedford Row), of which he became the head. Swanwick was appointed 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 ...

in 1956, and elected a Bencher of the Inner Temple in 1962. He was also elected Leader of the Midland Circuit in 1961, serving until 1965. He was

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from 1957 to 1959 and of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

from 1959 until 1966, when he was appointed to the High Court. He was also a Judge of Appeal of the Channel Islands from 1964 to 1966, Chairman of the Derbyshire

Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

from 1963 to 1966, and Deputy Chairman from 1966 until their abolition 1971. In 1962, he led the prosecution against

, nicknamed the 'A6 murderer'. The trial ran for 21 days, the longest criminal trial in English legal history up to that time. Hanratty was convicted of murder and hanged. Swanwick remained convinced of Hanratty's guilt when doubt arose as to whether he was guilty. In 2002, 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 ...

ruled that his guilt was beyond doubt due to DNA evidence. Among his other notable cases, in 1964 Swanwick defended John Denby Wheater, a solicitor involved in the Great Train Robbery. In 1965, he appeared for barrister Michael Worsley against his former client, the wrestler Norbert Rondel: the case reaffirmed the principle that barristers were immune from an action for negligence from a client.

Judicial career

Swanwick was appointed to 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 ...

in 1966, and received the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

. He was assigned to the

Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

; from 1975 to 1978, he was Presiding Judge of the Midland and Oxford Circuit. He retired in 1980. In 1976, he tried 14 prison officers charged with assaulting the

Birmingham Six The Birmingham Six were six Irishmen who were each sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 following their false convictions for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and unsatisfactory and quashed by the Cou ...

in prison; they were acquitted by the jury. In 1977, he tried the so-called "Epping Torso murder case", in which London criminals Reginald Dudley and Robert Maynard were convicted of the murders of Billy Moseley and Micky Cornwall. Dudley and Maynard's convictions were quashed in 2002.

Family

Swanwick married Helen Barbara Reid in 1933; they had two sons before divorcing in 1945. In 1952, he married Mrs Audrey Celia Parkinson, daughter of H. C. Hextall, of Ford, Ashurst, Steyning, Sussex; she died in 1987. David Swanwick, “Swany,” United States and World Extreme Skiing Champion is his grandson. Debrett's People of Today, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 1916

References

*
Sir Graham Swanwick
, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 26 June 2003 *James Morton,
Sir Graham Swanwick
, ''The Guardian'', 3 July 2003
Sir Graham Swanwick
, ''The Times'', 4 July 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Swanwick, Graham 1906 births 2003 deaths People from Derbyshire People educated at Winchester College Alumni of University College, Oxford Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Members of the Order of the British Empire English barristers English King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Members of the Inner Temple Queen's Bench Division judges Knights Bachelor