Sir Patrick McCarthy O'Connor, PC (28 December 1914 – 3 May 2001) was a British judge, who was a

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Just ...

between 1980 and 1989. He is best remembered as one of the three judges who rejected the second appeal by the

Birmingham Six The Birmingham Six were six men from Northern Ireland who were each sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 following their false convictions for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and unsatisfactory and q ...

in 1988.

Biography

Born in India, O'Connor was the son of William Patrick O’Connor, a doctor. His Scottish mother died when he was nine, while his father died when he was 11. He was sent back to England and was educated at

Downside School Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was establish ...

and

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

(honorary fellow, 1987), where he read History. 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 ...

by the

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in 1940 (bencher, 1966). He was the pupil and, later, the tenant of

Ronald Armstrong-Jones Major Ronald Owen Lloyd Armstrong-Jones, (''né'' Jones; 18 May 1899 – 27 January 1966) was a British barrister and soldier. He was the father of Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, and father-in-law of Princess Margaret, younger da ...

at 2 Crown Office Row. He had originally intended to join the

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or the

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, but was turned down by both on medical grounds. Having started his career specializing in personal injury claims and claims under the Workmen's Compensation Acts, after the war O'Connor acquired a large practice in employer negligence litigation. He was appointed junior counsel to the

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and was made a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1960. O'Connor was

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from 1959 to 1961 and of Southend from 1961 to 1966. In 1966, O'Connor was appointed a Justice of the High Court and assigned to the

Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

, receiving the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

. In 1967, he sentenced the gangster Charles Richardson to 12 years' imprisonment for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. He also presided over a string of high-profile libel cases. In 1980, Richardson was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal and sworn of the Privy Council. His 1988 dissent in '' Caparo Industries plc v Dickman'' was later adopted by the House of Lords. In 1989, he was one of the three judges (sitting with

Lord Lane Geoffrey Dawson Lane, Baron Lane, (17 July 1918 – 22 August 2005) was a British barrister and judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1980 to 1992, having previously served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1977 until 198 ...

and Lord Justice Stephen Brown) who rejected an appeal by the Birmingham Six, whose convictions were quashed in 1991. He retired in 1989. A devout Catholic, O'Connor was involved with Catholic charities such as the (British) Thomas More Society and Downside School.

Family

O'Connor married in 1938 Mary Garland Griffin, whom he had met at Oxford. She was the daughter of William Martin Griffin, KC, of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. They had two sons and two daughters. Lady O'Connor died in 1984.

References

* ''The Daily Telegraph'', 5 May 2001 * ''The Times'', 7 May 2001 * ''Who's Who'' {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Patrick 1914 births 2001 deaths Knights Bachelor Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Downside School Alumni of Merton College, Oxford British Roman Catholics Queen's Bench Division judges Lord justices of appeal British barristers British King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Members of the Inner Temple British expatriates in India