Sir Alfred John Ainley, (10 May 1906 – 19 January 1992) was a British colonial judge, who served as Chief Justice of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, of Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei, and of Kenya.

Biography

He was born in England and educated at

St Bees School , motto_translation = Enter so that you may make progress , established = (reformed 2015–2018) , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label ...

, Cumbria and

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

. He became a Magistrate in the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

in 1935. During the second World War he served as a lieutenant in the

Gold Coast Regiment The Ghana Regiment is an infantry regiment that forms the main fighting element of the Ghanaian Army (GA). History The regiment was formed in 1879 as the Gold Coast Constabulary, from personnel of the Hausa Constabulary of Southern Nigeria, to per ...

, active in the African theatre, and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1941 for leading his platoon under fire in an attack against an enemy armoured vehicle. He personally threw grenades at it eventually forcing its capture. After the war he was appointed a

Puisne Judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

in Uganda (1945 to 1955), before spending a term as Chief Justice of the Eastern Region of Nigeria. He was knighted for his services in 1957. In 1959 he was appointed Chief Justice of the United Judiciary of Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei but then transferred back to Africa in 1963 to be

Chief Justice of Kenya The Chief Justice of Kenya is the head of the Judiciary of Kenya and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya and is an office established under Article 161 of the Kenyan Constitution. The Chief Justice is assisted by the Deputy Chief Justice w ...

just prior to Kenyan independence in 1964, thereby becoming the first Chief Justice of the independent country. During his time in Kenya he was notable for sentencing Kisilu Mutua to death for conspiring in the murder of

Pio Gama Pinto Pio Gama Pinto (31 March 1927 – 24 February 1965) was a Kenyan journalist, politician and freedom fighter. He was a socialist leader who dedicated his life to the liberation of the Kenyan people and became independent Kenya's first martyr in ...

, a journalist and freedom fighter. The sentence was later commuted to 35 years imprisonment. He retired in 1968 and moved to live with his wife Mona Sybil in

Watermillock Watermillock is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Matterdale, on the western shore of Ullswater, in the English Lake District, Cumbria. In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 448. On 1 April 1934 the civil parish was ...

, Cumbria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ainley, Andrew John 1906 births People educated at St Bees School Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Recipients of the Military Cross Chief justices of Kenya Knights Bachelor 1992 deaths Gold Coast (British colony) judges British Borneo judges Uganda Protectorate judges British Kenya judges Colonial Nigeria judges British judges on the courts of Kenya Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei judges British Army personnel of World War II Royal West African Frontier Force officers