Thomas Edward Crowther (born May 1970) is a practising British barrister who served as a Circuit Judge from 2013 to 2018. He was assigned to the Wales Circuit on 24 July 2013 and resigned from the circuit bench on 5 December 2018 to return to legal practice.

Career

Crowther qualified B.Sc.(Hons), B.A.(Hons) from

Exeter University , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

. He became a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

in 1993 and

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 2013. Crowther was a founder member of Apex Chambers in 2007 and head of chambers in 2012–13. He was a fee-paid (part time) judge of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (later the First-Tier Tribunal, Immigration and Asylum Chamber) 2006–2013, 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 ...

2009–2013, a Circuit Judge 2013–2018, and an associate Judge of the Sovereign Bases of Akrotiri and Dhekelia 2015–2020. Following his return to practice, Crowther joine
Serjeants' Inn Chambers
London, in February 2019. In June 2019, he was appointed as Chair of th
Independent Inquiry into Telford Child Sexual Exploitation
The Inquiry'
Report
was published in four volumes in July 2022. He is a panel chair for th
Council of the Inns of Court Disciplinary Pool

Note-taking ban

During proceedings at Cardiff Crown Court on 7 and 8 April 2014 Crowther directed that no member of the public could make notes of the proceedings without his permission and twice ruled that the claimant in the case in question could not make notes. On spotting someone taking notes in the public gallery Crowther stated: :" nceforth any taking of notes without permission will be regarded as a contempt of court and will be dealt with as such." When a judicial review of Crowther's rulings were considered at the High Court a judge there ruled "those who attend public court hearings should be free to make notes of what occurs". That there could be exceptions such as where note taking was done for a wrongful purpose; for example to brief a witness who is not in court was noted. The High Court judged there had been a mistaken understanding that notes should never be taken unless permission was first sought from and granted by the court; and that the ruling had no bearing on the outcome of the proceedings to which it related.

References

External links

Tom Crowther Twitter Account
(Caution unverified) 21st-century English judges Living people 1970 births Members of the Inner Temple British King's Counsel {{UK-law-bio-stub