Timothy Robert Devlin (born 13 June 1959) is a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and former Conservative Party politician. From 1987 to 1997, he was the member of parliament for Stockton South.

Early life

Devlin was born on 13 June 1959. He was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

, an all-boys public school in London. He studied at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, the

City University London City, University of London was a public university from 1966 to 2024 in London, England. It merged with St George's, University of London to form City St George's, University of London in August 2024. The names "City, University of London" and ...

, and the

Inns of Court School of Law The City Law School is a law school in London, England, and it is one of the six schools of City, University of London. The law school traces its origins to the Inns of Court School of Law (ICSL), which was founded in 1852. The ICSL became par ...

Career

Political career

Devlin was first elected the member of parliament (MP) for the Stockton South constituency in the 1987 general election, when he defeated

Ian Wrigglesworth Ian William Wrigglesworth, Baron Wrigglesworth (born 8 December 1939) is a Liberal Democrat peer. He served as President of the Liberal Democrats from 1989 to 1990. Education He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, brought up in Norton-on-Tees, a ...

. From 1992 to 1994, he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to 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 ...

. Devlin was unseated in the 1997 general election, losing to Labour's Dari Taylor. He tried to regain the seat in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, but was beaten by Taylor again. Tim Devlin, while a Tory MP, helped arrange a meeting on 28 January 1993 in which Customs was ordered to drop drug-smuggling charges against Middlesbrough drug trafficker Brian Charrington. The case was dropped when it emerged that Charrington was a paid

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

for

HM Customs HM Customs (His or Her Majesty's Customs) was the national Customs service of Kingdom of England, England (and then of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1707, the United Kingdom from 1801) until a merger with the HM Excise, Departme ...

officers. All the accused, including Charrington and Curtis Warren, were acquitted of all charges.Barnes, Tony; Richard Elias; Peter Walsh. 2003 ''Cocky: the rise and fall of Curtis Warren, Britain's biggest drug baron''

Legal career

Devlin 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 ...

in 1985, thereby qualifying as a

. He is currently a member of Furnival Chambers.

References

External links

* 1959 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 People educated at Dulwich College Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of City, University of London British barristers {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1950s-stub