Myer Alan Barry King-Hamilton QC (9 December 1904 – 23 March 2010) was a British

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 ...

and

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

who was best known for hearing numerous high-profile cases at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

during the 1960s and 1970s. These included the trial of

Janie Jones Marion Mitchell (born 1941 in Seaham, County Durham), better known by her stage name Janie Jones, is a former English singer. She became renowned for holding sex parties at her home during the 1970s, and was jailed for her involvement in 'contro ...

in 1974 and the 1977 blasphemous libel trial against ''

Gay News ''Gay News'' was a fortnightly newspaper in the United Kingdom founded in June 1972 in a collaboration between former members of the Gay Liberation Front and members of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE). At the newspaper's height, circul ...

'' and its editor,

Denis Lemon ''Whitehouse v Lemon'' is a 1977 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom. It was the last successful blasphemy trial in the UK. Facts James Kirkup's poem ''The Love that Dares to Speak its Name'' was published in the 3 Jun ...

, for publishing "The Love That Dares to Speak Its Name", a poem by

James Kirkup James Harold Kirkup, FRSL (23 April 1918 – 10 May 2009) was an English poet, translator and travel writer. He wrote over 45 books, including autobiographies, novels and plays. He wrote under many pen-names including James Falconer, Aditya Jha, ...

Early life and career

King-Hamilton was born Myer Alan Barry Harris in

West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to ...

, London on 9 December 1904, the youngest child and only son of

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

Alfred Harris (1871-1959) and Constance Clyde Druiff (1877-1963). His father changed the family surname to King-Hamilton in 1916. King-Hamilton attended York House prep school and briefly

The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School Haberdashers' Boys' School (also known as Haberdashers', Habs, or Habs Boys), until September 2021 known as Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, is a public school for pupils age 4 to 18 in Elstree, Hertfordshire, England. The school is a mem ...

, but completed his schooling at

Bishop's Stortford College Bishop's Stortford College is a independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition for more than 1,200 pupils aged 4–18, situated in a campus on the edge of the market town of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, Englan ...

. He read law at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

, receiving a third-class BA degree in 1927. He later commented that "it is not essential or even important to get a First, or even a Second, to succeed at the Bar." Hamilton took his MA in 1929, the same year in which he was called to the Bar by 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 an ...

. In 1935, he married Rosalind Irene Ellis (1906–1991), with whom he had two daughters. During his first few years at the Bar, King-Hamilton specialised in road traffic law before branching out into other areas.

Military service

In 1939 King-Hamilton became a censor with the Ministry of Information and by 1945 had achieved the rank of

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

in Royal Air Force Intelligence. Upon demobilization he returned to his legal career.

Judicial career

After being appointed QC in 1954, King-Hamilton was appointed Recorder of Hereford from 1955 to 1965, of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

from 1956 to 1961 and of

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

until 1964. In that year he was appointed an additional judge of the Central Criminal Court, which lead to his most notable reported cases.

Emil Savundra trial

Emil Savundra Michael Marion Emil Anacletus Pierre Savundranayagam (6 July 1923 – 21 December 1976), usually known as Emil Savundra, was a Sri Lankan swindler. The collapse of his Fire, Auto and Marine Insurance Company left about 400,000 motorists in t ...

ran a fraudulent insurance company and had been exposed on television by

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ' ...

. His 1968 trial for

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

, under King-Hamilton, led to his conviction and imprisonment for eight years. Despite this, King-Hamilton described Savundra as "What a man. How could one not admire his spirit?" in his memoirs, and would have had him as an imaginary dinner party guest, along with Cleopatra, Dame Edith Evans and others.

Janie Jones trial

King-Hamilton also presided over the 1973 trial of

, a pop singer and

madame Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ...

, on charges of procuring women to become prostitutes,

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

and

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 ...

. After the jury convicted her on the first and third charges, King-Hamilton sentenced Jones to seven years imprisonment, describing her as "the most evil woman he had ever met". Jones's own recollection was that he had said "of all the women I've ever tried, you are the most evil. I thought one woman was really evil, but you leave that woman in the shade."

Peter Hain trial

In 1976

Peter Hain Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007 to 2008 and twice as Secretary of State ...

, then leader of the Young Liberals, was charged with the

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

of £490 from a branch of

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

. He was acquitted on the ground of mistaken identity and later accused King-Hamilton of bias against him.

''Gay News'' trial

A poem, ''

The Love that Dares to Speak its Name ''Whitehouse v Lemon'' is a 1977 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom. It was the last successful blasphemy trial in the UK. Facts James Kirkup's poem ''The Love that Dares to Speak its Name'' was published in the 3 Jun ...

'', was published in the 3 June 1976 issue of

. The poem, written from the viewpoint of a Roman

centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

, graphically describes him having sex with Jesus after his

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

, and also claims that Jesus had had sex with numerous disciples, guards, and even

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of J ...

. Christian morality campaigner

Mary Whitehouse Constance Mary Whitehouse (; 13 June 1910 – 23 November 2001) was a British teacher and conservative activist. She campaigned against social liberalism and the mainstream British media, both of which she accused of encouraging a more permiss ...

initiated a

private prosecution A private prosecution is a criminal law, criminal proceeding initiated by an individual private citizen or private organisation (such as a prosecution association) instead of by a public prosecutor who represents the State (polity), state. Private p ...

following the refusal of the

Director of Public Prosecutions The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members o ...

to take action. The trial, under the name

Whitehouse v Lemon ''Whitehouse v Lemon'' is a 1977 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom. It was the last successful blasphemy trial in the UK. Facts James Kirkup's poem ''The Love that Dares to Speak its Name'' was published in the 3 Jun ...

was heard by King-Hamilton at the

on 4 July 1977, with

John Mortimer Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for novels about a barrister named Horace Rumpole. Early life Mortimer was born in Hampstead, London, ...

QC and

Geoffrey Robertson Geoffrey Ronald Robertson (born 30 September 1946) is a human rights barrister, academic, author and broadcaster. He holds dual Australian and British citizenship.

representing

and John Smyth representing Whitehouse. On Monday 11 July, the jury found both defendants guilty. Gay News Ltd was fined £1,000 and Lemon fined £500 and sentenced to nine months imprisonment suspended for two years. King-Hamilton said that "it had been ''touch and go'' whether he would send Lemon to jail immediately. He would later say "It was a difficult summing up to prepare but I felt as if I had an influence over my left shoulder, I felt that I was being guided to put it helpfully to the jury... the previous prosecution was back in the early 1920s and did not give me much help." After retiring in 1979, King-Hamilton acted as an arbitrator in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

television series ''Case on Camera''. He died on 23 March 2010 at the age of 105, survived by both his daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King-Hamilton, Alan 1904 births 2010 deaths Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge English King's Counsel English centenarians English Jews 20th-century English judges Men centenarians People educated at Haberdashers' Boys' School People from West Hampstead Place of death missing 20th-century King's Counsel Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Presidents of the Cambridge Union Lawyers from London