Installation of Judge John Robert Carr Altham

John Robert Carr Altham, known as Robert Altham, is an English judge who became notable when he sentenced three

anti-fracking The anti-fracking movement is a political movement that seeks to ban the practice of extracting natural gasses from shale rock formations to provide power due to its negative environmental impact. These effects include the contamination of drinkin ...

protestors to prison on 26 September 2018. This was the first time environmental activists had received jail sentences for protesting in the UK since 1932 when the mass trespass of Kinder Scout was organised in the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southe ...

. The protesters appealed against the sentence after it came to light that Altham had family ties to the

oil industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...

. Altham is a circuit judge in the

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...

Preston Crown Court Preston Crown Court or more properly the Crown Court at Preston is a criminal court in Preston, Lancashire, England. The court is based on two sites in the city; Preston Combined Court Centre on Ringway and Sessions House on Lancaster Road. A firs ...

. He is a descendant of

James Altham Sir James Altham (died 1617) was an English judge and briefly a member of the Parliament of England. A friend of Lord Chancellor Francis Bacon, Altham opposed Edward Coke but advanced the laws of equity behind the fastness of the Exchequer court ...

, himself a judge who presided over the Lancashire witch trials. Altham was born in

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

and attended Sandylands Primary School, Morecambe and Lancaster Royal Grammar School before studying Latin and Greek at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. He then gained his law qualifications at Birmingham University and the Inns of Court School of Law. 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 ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1993 and went on to join the chambers of David Steer QC in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. In 2008 he became a

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

Gordon Marsden Gordon Marsden (born 28 November 1953) is a Labour Party (UK), British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Blackpool South (UK Parliament constituency), Blackpool South from 1 ...

, the MP for Blackpool South contacted the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, Geoffrey Cox to raise questions about Altham's handling of the 2018 fracking protest case, asking whether would "undertake an investigation into compliance with the Judicial Code of Conduct in relation to the trial". At an appeal hearing held on 17 October Lord Burnett,

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

ruled that an "immediate custodial sentence in the case of these appellants was manifestly excessive". After saying that a

community order Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

imposing on them unpaid work would have been appropriate. However, as they had spent six weeks in prison he reduced the sentence to a conditional discharge.

Judicial Conduct Investigations Office The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) is an independent statutory office in England whose remit is to investigate allegations of Judicial misconduct. Their offices are located in the Royal Courts of Justice, London. Their role is to su ...

spokesperson indicated they had received a complaint concerning Judge Robert Altham, which "will be considered in accordance with the Judicial Conduct Rules 2014". However, during the hearing Lord Burnett remarked that there was "no evidence" that the judge had any financial interest in fracking. Judge Altham was installed as Honorary Recorder of Preston on 23 September 2021, a post dating back to 1685.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altham, Robert Living people 21st-century English judges People from Morecambe People educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School Alumni of University College London Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the Inns of Court School of Law Members of Gray's Inn Year of birth missing (living people)