Sir Nigel Hamilton Sweeney KC (born 18 March 1954), styled The Hon. Mr Justice Sweeney, is a High Court judge.

Biography

Sweeney studied law at the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

under Sir John Cyril Smith. He was called to the bar in 1976 at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

, where he was made 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 ca ...

in 1997, that same year he was appointed First Senior Prosecuting Counsel to the Crown, and was appointed

Queen'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 o ...

in 2000. He was appointed to the High Court ( Queen's Bench) in September 2008. Prior to being appointed a High Court judge, Sweeney was a barrister in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, practising from 6 King's Bench Walk and specialising in terrorism, official secrets, murder and major health and safety trials. He prosecuted a number of notable criminal trials, including the perpetrators of the 1984 IRA Brighton bombing and the attempted bombings of 21 July 2005, Neo-Nazi terrorist

David Copeland The 1999 London nail bombings were a series of bomb explosions in London, England. Over three successive weekends between 17 and 30 April 1999, homemade nail bombs were detonated respectively in Brixton in South London; at Brick Lane, Spitalfiel ...

and murderers Michael Stone and Kamel Bourgass. Sweeney was appointed Presiding Judge of the South Eastern CIrcuit in 2012, and the Judge in Charge of the Terrorism List in 2013. He is also the Judge responsible for European Liaison in relation to criminal law issues, and is a member of the Judges’ Council. He presided over the trial in February and March 2013 of former

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change was a British government cabinet position from 2008 to 2016. The Department of Energy and Climate Change was created on 3 October 2008 when then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown ...

Chris Huhne MP and his former wife,

Vicky Pryce Vasiliki "Vicky" Pryce (' Kourmouzi ( el, Βασιλική Κουρμούζη); born 15 July 1952) is a Greek-born British economist and a former Joint Head of the United Kingdom's Government Economic Service. She is currently the Chief Econom ...

, for

perverting the course of justice Perverting the course of justice is an offence committed when a person prevents justice from being served on themselves or on another party. In England and Wales it is a common law offence, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Stat ...

contrary to

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

. He sentenced another MP

Denis MacShane Denis MacShane (born Josef Denis Matyjaszek; 21 May 1948) is a British former politician, author and commentator who served as Minister of State for Europe from 2002 to 2005. He joined the Labour Party in 1970 and has held most party offices. ...

for fraud in the aftermath of the 2009 parliamentary expenses scandal. He has presided over and was sentencing judge in high-profile cases involving terrorists and extremists, such as the two men responsible for the

murder of Lee Rigby On the afternoon of 22 May 2013, a British Army soldier, Fusilier Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was attacked and killed by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, southeast London ...

in 2013, the man convicted of the murder of MP

David Amess David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and

White supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

bomber Pavlo Lapshyn He has also been involved in numerous other high profile cases. He was the presiding judge in the trial of

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...

for various counts of indecent assault dating back to the 1960s. He was the sentencing judge for the murder of Sabina Nessa, sentencing Koci Selemaj to a minimum of 36 years in prison. He was also the presiding judge in the

Essex lorry deaths On 23 October 2019, the bodies of 39 Vietnamese people — 31 men and 8 women — were found in the trailer of an articulated refrigerator lorry in Grays, Essex, United Kingdom. The trailer had been shipped from the port of Zeebrugge, Belgiu ...

trials where 39

Vietnamese people The Vietnamese people ( vi, người Việt, lit=Viet people) or Kinh people ( vi, người Kinh) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day Northern Vietnam and Southern China (Jing Islands, Dongxing, Guangxi). The native la ...

were killed in the back of a lorry; four perpetrators received a combined 92 years in prison. Sweeney is also an Associate Professor at the School of Law at Nottingham University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Nigel Living people 1954 births People educated at Wellington School, Somerset Alumni of the University of Nottingham British barristers Members of the Middle Temple 21st-century King's Counsel Queen's Bench Division judges Knights Bachelor Place of birth missing (living people)

Biography

See also

References