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
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 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 ...
in 2000. He was appointed to the High Court (
Queen's Bench
The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions.
* Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of common ...
) 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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...
, 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, Spitalfie ...
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
Christopher Murray Paul-Huhne (born 2 July 1954), known as Chris Huhne, is a British energy and climate change consultant and former journalist and politician who was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Eastleigh from 2005 to 2013 a ...
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 Economi ...
, 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. Statu ...
contrary to
common law. 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 su ...
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
On the evening of 17 September 2021, 28-year-old Sabina Nessa was murdered in south east London, United Kingdom. Her body was found the following day in Cator Park, Greenwich, having been beaten and strangled. Koci Selamaj, an Albanian-born m ...
, 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, Belgi ...
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 lang ...
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.
See also
*
Murder of Lynette White
Lynette Deborah White (5 July 1967 – 14 February 1988) was murdered on 14 February 1988 in Cardiff, Wales. South Wales Police issued a photofit image of a bloodstained, white male seen in the vicinity at the time of the murder but were unab ...
*
Babes in the Wood murders (Brighton)
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)