William Edgar Rayner Goddard, Baron Goddard, (10 April 1877 – 29 May 1971) was
Lord Chief Justice of England
The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales.
Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English an ...
from 1946 to 1958, known for his strict sentencing and mostly conservative views despite being the first Lord Chief Justice to be appointed by a Labour government, as well as the first to possess a law degree. Goddard's no-nonsense reputation was reflected in a number of
nickname
A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...
s that he acquired, which included: 'The Tiger', 'Justice-in-a-jiffy', and—from
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
—'Lord God-damn'. He is considered one of the last
hanging judges.
Early life and career
William Edgar Rayner Goddard was born on 10 April 1877 at Bassett Road,
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...
, London, the second of three sons and the third of five children of the solicitor Charles Goddard (22 February 1843 – 27 May 1922) and his wife Janet née Jobson, who was from Sheffield (1851 – 8 June 1934). He went by his third name Rayner throughout his life.
Goddard attended
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...
, where he decided on a career in law. In later life he vigorously denied the frequent claims of
Lord Jowitt that he had amused his school contemporaries by reciting, word for word, the form of the death sentence upon those whom he disliked. He later attended
Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...
and graduated with an upper second-class degree in
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...
in 1898, and gained a
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
in athletics. He was called to the
Bar by the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...
in 1899.
On 31 May 1906 Goddard married Marie Schuster, the daughter of the banker Sir
Felix Otto Schuster, with whom he was to have three daughters. She died on 16 May 1928 during an operation at the age of 44. Goddard never remarried.
Goddard built a strong reputation in commercial cases on the
Western Circuit
Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to:
* Courts that literally sit 'on circuit', i.e., judges move around a region or country to different towns or cities where they will hear cases;
* Courts that s ...
and was appointed as
Recorder of
Poole
Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...
(a part-time Judgeship) in 1917. Goddard was appointed a
King'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 1923, transferred to be Recorder of
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
in 1925, and eventually Recorder of
Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
in 1928. He was elected 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 c ...
of his inns in 1929 and undertook work for the Barristers' Benevolent Association. In the general election of
1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
, Goddard agreed, against his better judgement, to contest the
Kensington South
Kensington South was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Kensington district of west London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The constituency was created ...
constituency as an unofficial
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
candidate. The sitting Conservative MP,
Sir William Davison, had been a defendant in a divorce case, and a local committee thought the newly enfranchised young women voters would refuse to support him. In the end, Goddard, running under the slogan "Purity Goddard", came last in the poll, winning only 15 per cent of the vote, and the sitting member was returned.
Judicial appointment
On 5 April 1932 Goddard was appointed a
Justice of the High Court and assigned to the
King'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 ...
later that year. As a judge of the first instance, Goddard acquired a good reputation as a commercial judge, who conducted trials with efficiency and had little tolerance for dilatory practices.
In 1938, the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act authorized the appointment of three additional
Lords Justices 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) Justic ...
: Goddard was one of the three new Lords Justices appointed under the Act, after only six years in the High Court. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he also sat as a supplementary judge in the King's Bench Division. In 1943, he conducted a Home Office inquiry into the use of corporal punishment by Hereford magistrates, later known as the 'Hereford birching inquiry'.
Goddard was known for turning out well-argued and legally convincing judgments. He would deliver stern diatribes to criminals, but his sentences were usually moderate, even when he was personally offended by the crime. After another six-year stint, he was appointed as a
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...
upon the death of
Lord Atkin
James Richard Atkin, Baron Atkin, (28 November 1867 – 25 June 1944), commonly known as Dick Atkin, was an Australian-British jurist, who served as a lord of appeal in ordinary from 1928 until his death in 1944. He is especially remembered a ...
in 1944 and received a
life peerage
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...
. He chose the title Baron Goddard of
Aldbourne
Aldbourne ( ) is a village and civil parish about north-east of Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It is in a valley on the south slope of the Lambourn Downs – part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. From here an u ...
in the County of
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
.
Lord Chief Justice
Viscount Caldecote, the
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales.
Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English and ...
, suffered a stroke in 1945 and suddenly resigned, creating a vacancy at an inopportune moment. The tradition was for the appointment to be a political one, with the
Attorney-General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
stepping up to take it. However,
Sir Hartley Shawcross was unwilling and considered too young. The appointment of a stop-gap candidate was expected. As Goddard explained in an August 1970 interview with
David Yallop: "They had to give the job to somebody. There wasn't anybody else available, so
Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. Attlee was Deputy Prime Minister d ...
appointed me." At the time Attlee and Goddard did not know each other.
The appointment, in January 1946, came at a time when the crime rate, and public concern over crime, were both increasing. Through his judgments, Goddard made it clear that he felt that stronger sentences were the way to tackle both. However, Goddard was also known to give young offenders probation rather than custodial sentences, if he believed that they would respond.
Despite his appointment as a stop-gap, Goddard served twelve and a half years as Lord Chief Justice before stepping down in September 1958.
Drunk drivers
On 5 December 1950 Goddard said that in most cases drunk drivers should be jailed.
ID cards
In June 1951, Goddard ruled in ''
Willcock v Muckle'' that giving police the power to demand an ID card "from all and sundry, for instance, from a lady who may leave her car outside a shop longer than she should", made people resentful of the police and "inclines them to obstruct the police instead of to assist them." Therefore, for the police to demand that individuals show their ID cards was unlawful because it was not relevant to the purposes for which the card was adopted.
ID cards
An identity document (abbreviated as ID) is a document proving a person's identity.
If the identity document is a plastic card it is called an ''identity card'' (abbreviated as ''IC'' or ''ID card''). When the identity document incorporates a ...
, in force since the start of World War II, were abolished in February 1952.
Craig and Bentley
In December 1952 Goddard presided over the trial of Christopher Craig and
Derek Bentley
Derek William Bentley (30 June 1933 – 28 January 1953) was a British man who was hanged for the murder of a policeman during a burglary. Christopher Craig, then aged 16, a friend and accomplice of Bentley, was accused of the murder. Be ...
, accused of the murder of PC Sidney Miles at a
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
warehouse on 2 November 1952. 16-year-old Craig had shot and killed PC Miles while resisting arrest on the roof of a factory he intended to break into. Bentley, who was 19 but of limited intelligence, had gone with him and was accused of urging Craig to shoot, having called out to him, "let him have it, Chris", when a policeman,
Sergeant
Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...
Frederick Fairfax, asked Craig for the gun. Fairfax was wounded by Craig.
Lord Goddard directed the jury at the trial that, in law, Bentley was as guilty of firing the shot as Craig, even though there was contradictory evidence as to whether Bentley was aware that Craig was carrying a gun. During the trial, Goddard made no reference to Bentley's mental state, apart from when
Christmas Humphreys asked Bentley to read a statement he had allegedly made to police officers after his arrest. Goddard told Humphreys that Bentley couldn't read.
After 75 minutes of deliberations, the jury returned a guilty verdict in respect of both defendants. Craig was too young for a death sentence, but Bentley was not. Nevertheless, the jury had exceptionally returned a plea of
mercy
Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French , from Medieval Latin , "price paid, wages", from Latin , "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, religious, social, and legal contexts.
In the social and le ...
in favour of Bentley along with the guilty verdict. The decision passed to the
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...
,
David Maxwell Fyfe
David Patrick Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir, (29 May 1900 – 27 January 1967), known as Sir David Maxwell Fyfe from 1942 to 1954 and as Viscount Kilmuir from 1954 to 1962, was a British Conservative politician, lawyer and judge who combin ...
, to decide whether clemency should be granted. After reading Home Office psychiatric reports and a petition signed by 200 MPs, he rejected the request and Bentley was hanged by
Albert Pierrepoint
Albert Pierrepoint ( ; 30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) was an English Executioner, hangman who executed between 435 and 600 people in a 25-year career that ended in 1956. His father Henry Pierrepoint, Henry and uncle Thomas Pierrepoint, Th ...
on 28 January 1953. Craig was sent to prison and released in 1963 after serving ten-and-a-half years.
Derek Bentley
Derek William Bentley (30 June 1933 – 28 January 1953) was a British man who was hanged for the murder of a policeman during a burglary. Christopher Craig, then aged 16, a friend and accomplice of Bentley, was accused of the murder. Be ...
had his conviction quashed in July 1998 with the appeal trial judge,
Lord Bingham of Cornhill
Thomas Henry Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill (13 October 193311 September 2010) was a British judge who was successively Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and Senior Law Lord. On his death in 2010, he was described as the greatest j ...
, noting that Lord Goddard had denied the defendant "the fair trial which is the birthright of every British citizen."
Political context
Goddard chose to continue his involvement with trials on the front line, and opted to judge ordinary High Court cases as he was entitled to do.
He presided over the
libel
Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
trial at which
Harold Laski
Harold Joseph Laski (30 June 1893 – 24 March 1950) was an English political theorist and economist. He was active in politics and served as the chairman of the British Labour Party from 1945 to 1946 and was a professor at the London School of ...
, Chairman of the
Labour Party, attempted unsuccessfully to sue the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
'' for damages when it quoted him as saying that the party must take power "even if it means violence". On 13 June 1965, Goddard told Laski's brother,
Neville Laski, "I didn't agree with the findings of the jury. I have always been unhappy about the case and I often think about it. I can say it has been on my conscience. I want to add that your brother was not a good witness. He couldn't answer simple yes or no when questioned and made long speeches. Slade was no match for
Pat Hastings".
In 1948 backbench pressure in the House of Commons forced through an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill to the effect that
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
should be suspended for five years and all death sentences automatically commuted to life
imprisonment
Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...
. The Bill also sought to abolish
judicial corporal punishment
Judicial corporal punishment is the infliction of corporal punishment as a result of a sentence imposed on an offender by a Court, court of law, including Flagellation, flagellation (also called flogging or whipping), forced Amputation, amputat ...
in both its then forms, the
cat-o'-nine-tails
The cat o' nine tails, commonly shortened to the cat, is a type of multi-tailed whip or Flail (weapon), flail. It originated as an implement for physical punishment, particularly in the Royal Navy and British Army, and as a Judicial corporal pun ...
and the
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...
. Goddard attacked the Bill in the House of Lords, making his
maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.
Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
, saying he agreed with the abolition of the "cat" but not birching, which he regarded as an effective punishment for young offenders. He also disagreed with the automatic commutation of death sentences, believing that it was contrary to the
Bill of Rights
A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...
.
In a debate, he once referred to a case he had tried of an agricultural labourer who had assaulted a jeweller; Goddard gave him a short two months' imprisonment and twelve strokes of the birch because "I was not then depriving the country of the services of a good agricultural labourer over the harvest". The suspension of capital punishment was reversed by 181 to 28, and a further amendment to retain the birch was also passed (though the Lords were later forced to give way on this issue). As the crime rate continued to rise, Goddard became convinced that the
Criminal Justice Act 1948
The Criminal Justice Act 1948 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 58) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that implemented several widespread reforms of the English criminal justice system, mainly abolishing penal servitude, corporal punishment ...
was responsible as it was a 'Gangster's Charter'. He held a strong belief that punishment had to be punitive in order to be effective, a view also shared at the time by
Lord Denning
Alfred Thompson Denning, Baron Denning, (23 January 1899 – 5 March 1999), was an English barrister and judge. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1923 and became a King's Counsel in 1938. Denning became a judge in 1944 when he w ...
.
Bodkin Adams case
During the committal hearing of
John Bodkin Adams
John Bodkin Adams (21 January 18994 July 1983) was a British general practitioner, convicted fraudster, and suspected serial killer. Between 1946 and 1956, 163 of his patients died while in comas, which was deemed to be worthy of investigation ...
on a charge of murder in January 1957, Goddard was seen dining with Sir
Roland Gwynne (Mayor of Eastbourne from 1929 to 1931) and chairman of the local panel of magistrates, and ex-
Attorney-General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
Hartley Shawcross at an hotel in
Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...
: the subject of their conversation is unreported and unknown.
[Cullen, Pamela V., ''A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams'', London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006. ] Goddard had already appointed
Mr Justice Devlin to try Adams's case. Three months later, on 15 April, while the jury was out discussing the verdict on Adams's first charge of murder, Goddard telephoned to Devlin to suggest to him, if Adams were found not guilty, to grant Adams bail before he was tried on a second count of murder. Devlin was at first surprised since a person accused of murder had never been given bail before in British legal history, but on consideration saw its merit,
[Devlin, Patrick, ''Easing the Passing'', 1985.] but this move has been plausibly suggested as a warning to the prosecution of strong judicial displeasure over the Attorney-General's plan to proceed with the second indictment. As Lord Chief Justice, Goddard had a responsibility for the conduct of all courts in England and Wales, from magistrates' courts to the Court of Appeal.
Adams was acquitted on the first count of murder, and the second charge was controversially dropped via a ''
''—an act by the prosecution that was later called by Devlin an "abuse of process", saying: "The use of nolle prosequi to conceal the deficiencies of the prosecution was an abuse of process, which left an innocent man under the suspicion that there might have been something in the talk of mass murder after all". The pathologist
Francis Camps considered the deaths of up to of 163 of Adams' patients might be suspicious,
[ but he only conducted post-mortem examinations on two of these which produced nothing of significance.] The assistant investigating officer, Charles Hewett suspected political interference to ensure Adams' acquittal,[ rather than accepting that the police investigation was sloppy, and their case was weak.]
A month after Adams' trial, on 10 May 1957, Goddard heard a contempt of court
Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...
case against Rolls House Publishing, publishers of ''Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'', and chain of newsagents W.H. Smith, who on 1 April during Adams's trial had respectively published and distributed an issue of the magazine containing two paragraphs of material "highly prejudicial to the accused", saying that Adams's victim count could be "as high as 400". Each company was fined £50. Goddard made no mention of his contact with Roland Gwynne or of a potential conflict of interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...
, if any existed.[
]
Retirement and death
After his retirement as Lord Chief Justice, Goddard was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...
(GCB) on 30 September 1958. In January 1959, four months after retiring as Lord Chief Justice, Goddard resumed regular judicial sittings in the House of Lords, continuing until 1964 when he fully retired. During this period he was a member of the judicial committee of the House of Lords in several controversial appeal cases, including ''Director of Public Prosecutions v Smith'' (1961), ''Sykes v Director of Public Prosecutions'' (1962), and ''Attorney-General for Northern Ireland v Gallagher'' (1963). In April 1959 Goddard took the unprecedented step of returning to sit in the Court of Appeal
An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...
for almost a year to help clear a backlog of appeal cases.
After retiring as Lord Chief Justice, Goddard continued to intervene occasionally in Lords debates and public speeches to put forward his views in favour of judicial corporal punishment
Judicial corporal punishment is the infliction of corporal punishment as a result of a sentence imposed on an offender by a Court, court of law, including Flagellation, flagellation (also called flogging or whipping), forced Amputation, amputat ...
. On 12 December 1960 he said in the House of Lords that the law was too much biased in favour of the criminal. Goddard also expressed his opposition to the legalisation of homosexual acts on 24 May 1965. His final speech in the House of Lords was in April 1968 at the age of 91, praising the City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
's law courts.
August 1970 interview
In the final interview he gave, in August 1970, Goddard told David Yallop that being Lord Chief Justice was not an easy job. When Yallop, who believed that Craig should have been imprisoned for manslaughter
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...
and Bentley thus cleared, asked Goddard about Derek Bentley's execution, he received the following reply, "Yes, I thought that Bentley was going to be reprieved. He certainly should have been. There's no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Bentley should have been reprieved". Goddard also said if Fyfe had consulted him he would have recommended a reprieve.
Goddard remarked that what troubled him was not Bentley being hanged when he was close to the minimum age, but the hard facts of the case.
Goddard went on to criticise David Maxwell Fyfe
David Patrick Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir, (29 May 1900 – 27 January 1967), known as Sir David Maxwell Fyfe from 1942 to 1954 and as Viscount Kilmuir from 1954 to 1962, was a British Conservative politician, lawyer and judge who combin ...
in the two-hour interview, saying that he made the recommendation to mercy to Maxwell-Fyfe and that "Bentley's execution was an act of supreme illogicality. I was never consulted over it (the decision and execution). In fact he (Maxwell Fyfe) never consulted anyone. The blame for Bentley's execution rests solely with Fyfe". It is true that Maxwell Fyfe, who died in January 1967, was as much a supporter of the death penalty as Goddard. However, despite stating his opposition to Bentley's execution, Goddard still expressed his strong support for the death penalty and asserted that the law was biased in favour of the criminal.
Whether Goddard felt this at the time of Bentley's execution, or was saying it in hindsight, remains a moot point. Goddard's claims were disputed by John Parris in his book ''Scapegoat'' (Duckworth), published in 1991. Parris, who died in September 1996, was Craig's barrister at the 1952 trial, and wrote that Goddard told Maxwell Fyfe to ignore the jury's recommendation for mercy, and that Bentley must be hanged.
Death
Goddard died at his home in The Temple, London on 29 May 1971. He was cremated
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...
four days later. No memorial service was held. When alive, Goddard said he did not want one as they were "exercises in hypocrisy". He left over £100,000 in his will, published in July 1971.
Criticism
After Goddard's death, he was attacked in the columns of ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' by Bernard Levin
Henry Bernard Levin (19 August 1928 – 7 August 2004) was an English journalist, author and broadcaster, described by ''The Times'' as "the most famous journalist of his day". The son of a poor Jewish family in London, he won a scholarship t ...
, who described him as "a calamity" and accused him of vindictiveness and of being a malign influence on penal reform. Levin had also attacked Goddard when he retired as Lord Chief Justice 13 years earlier in a ''Spectator
''Spectator'' or ''The Spectator'' may refer to:
*Spectator sport, a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its matches
*Audience
Publications Canada
* '' The Hamilton Spectator'', a Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, ...
'' article, saying he walked hand in hand with ignorance on one side of him and barbarism on the other. In ''The Times'' on 8 June 1971, Levin wrote (referring to Goddard's assertion in 1970 that he had been "very unhappy" about Bentley being hanged) that "if Goddard did indeed claim this, it was a breathtaking piece of hypocrisy, in view of his conduct of the case". Afterwards Levin was blackballed by the Garrick Club
The Garrick Club is a private members' club in London, founded in 1831 as a club for "actors and men of refinement to meet on equal terms". It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world. Its 1,500 members include many actors, writers, ...
, a favourite resort of both lawyers and journalists, when his application for membership came up.
On 30 July 1998, the Court of Appeal quashed Derek Bentley's conviction on the basis of Goddard's misdirection to the jury which, according to Lord Bingham
Thomas Henry Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill (13 October 193311 September 2010) was a British judge who was successively Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and Senior Law Lord. On his death in 2010, he was described as the greatest ju ...
, "must ..have driven the jury to conclude that they had little choice but to convict." He added that the summing-up of the case was "such as to deny the appellant entleythe fair trial which is the birthright of every British citizen". Bingham also, however, acknowledged that Goddard was "one of the outstanding criminal judges of the century", and underlined the change in social standards between 1953 and 1998. Bentley was not, contrary to occasional media reports, acquitted; but in view of the passage of time it is scarcely possible that he would ever have been retried. The decision to review the case decades after Bentley's death was not without criticism.
In popular culture and legal legend
Lord Goddard was portrayed by the actor Michael Gough
Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer horror films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthur Holmwoo ...
in the film ''Let Him Have It
''Let Him Have It'' is a 1991 British drama film directed by Peter Medak and starring Christopher Eccleston, Paul Reynolds, Tom Courtenay and Tom Bell. The film is based on the true story of Derek Bentley, who was convicted of the murder of a ...
'' in 1991.
In " Prisoner and Escort", the first episode of the popular 1973 sitcom ''Porridge
Porridge is a food made by heating, soaking or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, fruit, or syrup to make a sweet cereal ...
'', Norman Stanley Fletcher says about strict and authoritarian Prison Officer Mackay: "I bet he's the secretary of the Lord Chief Justice Goddard appreciation society". A remark referring to strict views on criminals, society and justice which Mackay and Goddard largely shared.
According to his clerk
A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...
, Goddard ejaculated when passing a death sentence
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
on such a regular basis, that a fresh pair of trousers had to be brought to court on those occasions.
References
Bibliography
*''Lord Goddard: His career and cases'' by Glyn Jones and Eric Grimshaw (Allan Wingate, London, 1958).
*''Lord Goddard: My Years With the Lord Chief Justice'' by Arthur Smith (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1959) is a sympathetic biography by Goddard's chief clerk.
*"To Encourage the Others" by David Yallop (Allen 1971). The first authoritative and thorough study of the Bentley/Craig case.
*''Scapegoat'', John Parris (Duckworth 1991). An account of the Craig and Bentley trial by Craig's barrister.
*''Daly v Cannon'' 954
Year 954 ( CMLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Europe
* Spring – A Hungarian army led by Bulcsú crosses the Rhine. He camps at Worms in the capital of his ally Conrad the Red, d ...
1 WLR 261 (QB).
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goddard, Lord
1877 births
1971 deaths
Goddard, Rayner
Goddard, Rayner
Law lords
Goddard, Rayner
Goddard, Rayner
British heraldists
Queen's Bench Division judges
Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Knights Bachelor
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Members of the Inner Temple
English King's Counsel
20th-century King's Counsel
Lord justices of appeal
Life peers created by George VI