Geoffrey Dawson Lane, Baron Lane AFC PC (17 July 1918 – 22 August 2005) was a British Judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1980 to 1992. The later part of his term was marred by the uncovering of a succession of miscarriages of justice. He will be remembered for his infamous comment, on turning down the first appeal by the Birmingham Six, "the longer this hearing has gone on the more convinced this court has become that the verdict of the jury was correct". After two further appeals, the Birmingham Six were finally cleared in 1991, shortly before Lane retired. This article is about the award given in the United Kingdom; a separate article describes the award given in the United States. ... Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. ... July 17 is the 198th day (199th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 167 days remaining. ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A judge or justice is an appointed or elected official who presides over a court. ... The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, and the presiding judge of Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, and of the Queens Bench Division of the High Court. ... A miscarriage of justice is primarily the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime that they did not commit. ... The Birmingham Six were Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker. ...

Early life

Lane was the son of a bank manager and was born in Derby. He attended Shrewsbury School and Trinity College, Cambridge where he graduated in the Classical and Law Tripos in 1939. He served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II, flying Wellington Bombers for No 104 Squadron and later promoted to Squadron Leader to command No 233 Squadron, which flew Dakota transport aircraft in D-Day and Operation Market Garden. He was awarded the Air Force Cross in 1943. He read for the bar when he was demobilised. Derby (pronounced dar-bee ) is a city in the East Midlands of England. ... Shrewsbury Schools Coat of Arms Shrewsbury School is a leading British boys public school (UK), located in Shrewsbury in the county of Shropshire. ... Full name The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity Motto Virtus vera nobilitas Virtue is true Nobility Named after The Holy Trinity Previous names Kings Hall and Michaelhouse (until merged in 1546) Established 1546 Sister College Christ Church Master Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow Location Trinity Street... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the UK Armed Forces. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the globe... The Vickers Wellington was a twin-engine, medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs Chief Designer, R.K. Pierson. ... A Squadron Leaders sleeve/shoulder insignia Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. ... The Douglas DC-3 is a fixed-wing, propeller-driven aircraft which revolutionised air transport in the 1930s and 1940s, and is generally regarded as one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made (also see Boeing 707 and Boeing 747). ... Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ... Waves of paratroops land in Holland during operation Market-Garden in September 1944. ... This article is about the award given in the United Kingdom; a separate article describes the award given in the United States. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ...

Legal career

Lane was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1946. He specialised in criminal prosecutions on the Midland and Oxford circuit and 'took silk' in 1962 to become a Queen's Counsel. He prosecuted some of the Great Train robbers in the same year, and he was appointed as Recorder of Bedford, a part-time judge, in 1963. In England and Wales, and Hong Kong SAR, barristers (, lawyers who are licensed to argue cases in court, as opposed to those licensed only for other forms of legal practice) are those who have been called to the bar or to have received a call to the bar. In Canada... Grays Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in around the Royal Courts of Justice in London, England to which barristers belong and where they are called to the bar. ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Queens Counsel (postnominal QC), during the reign of a male Sovereign known as Kings Counsel (KC), are barristers or, in Scotland, advocates appointed by Letters patent to be one of Her Majestys Counsel learned in the law. They do not constitute a separate order or degree of... The Great Train Robbery was the name given to a train robbery that was committed on August 8, 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. ... Bedford is the county town of the English county of Bedfordshire. ...

While appearing for the defendant in the case of R v Morris (1966, 2 QB 110), he made a much cited statement as to what constituted 'common purpose' for the criminal law, which the Judge adopted: 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ...

"where two persons embark on a joint enterprise, each is liable for the acts done in pursuance of that joint enterprise, that that includes liability for unusual consequences if they arise from the execution of the agreed joint enterprise but (and this is the crux of the matter) that, if one of the adventurers goes beyond what had been tacitly agreed as part of the common enterprise, his co-adventurer is not liable for the consequences of that unauthorised act. Finally, he says it is for the jury in every case to decide whether what was done was part of the joint enterprise, or went beyond it and was in fact an act unauthorised by that joint enterprise."

Judicial office

High Court

Later in 1966, Lane became a full-time Judge of the Queen's Bench Division (with the customary Knighthood), as well as a Bencher at Gray's Inn. He delivered some notable judgments: in 1968 he awarded damages against a school for a pupil who had been injured in 'horseplay' between his peers, saying that the school had a responsibility to stop it getting out of hand; and while acting as an appeal judge, he found for the publishers of Last Exit to Brooklyn who had been convicted of publishing an obscene book, because of faults in the trial Judge's summing-up. He was picked to head the inquiry into the Staines air disaster in 1972, and concluded that the underlying cause was an undiagnosed heart condition of the pilot which impaired his judgement, coupled with the pilot's known bad temper which led to his junior crew being unwilling to challenge him. One of the ancient courts of England, the Kings Bench (or Queens Bench when the monarch is female) is now a division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. ... A statue of an armoured knight of the Middle Ages For the chess piece, see knight (chess). ... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Cover of the 1988 Grove Press reissue of Last Exit to Brooklyn Last Exit to Brooklyn is a 1964 novel by American author Hubert Selby Jr. ... Obscenity has several connotations. ... On June 18th, 1972, British European Flight 548, a Hawker-Siddeley Trident 1B, G-ARPI, of British European Airways (BEA) crashed two minutes after takeoff from Heathrow Airport, killing all 118 passengers and crew on board. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ...

Appellate courts

Lane was made a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1974 . He was one of the appeal judges in Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council's appeal to keep its Grammar Schools rather than be forced by the government to adopt a comprehensive system, and joined in the judgment which found for Tameside and brought a halt to comprehensivisation. Lane's judgment was personally critical of Fred Mulley, the Secretary of State for Education and Science for being "far from frank" about his reason for intervening in Tameside. Court of Appeals is the title of certain appellate courts in various jurisdictions. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Tameside is a metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester in the north west of England. ... In the United Kingdom , a grammar school is a secondary school attended by pupils aged 11 to 18, to which entry is controlled by means of a selection process which usually consists of a written examination. ... A comprehensive school is a secondary school that accepts school students or pupils of all abilities, as opposed to a grammar school which depends on a system of selection. ... Frederick William Mulley, Baron Mulley of Manor Park in the City of Sheffield, PC, (born July 3, 1918) was a British Labour politician, barrister-at-law, and economist. ... The Secretary of State for Education and Skills is the chief minister of the Department for Education and Skills in the United Kingdom government. ...

Another high profile case in 1977 saw Lane join in dismissing an appeal against deportation from Mark Hosenball, an American journalist working for the Evening Standard. In 1978, Lane found for the Labour Party and against its dissident members (Paul McCormick and Julian Lewis) who tried to win control of Newham North East Constituency Labour Party from the party's National Executive. 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ... Headlines of the Evening standard on the day of London bombing on July 7, 2005, in Waterloo station The Evening Standard is a newspaper published in London. ... 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... The Labour Party is the principal centrist/centre-left political party in the United Kingdom (see British politics). ... Dr Julian Murray Lewis (born 26 September 1951, in Swansea, Wales) is a British politician, and member of Parliament for New Forest East. ...

Lane was appointed as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in October 1979 by the new Lord Chancellor, Lord Hailsham, soon after Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 UK general election. His appointment was welcomed in the legal profession, where Lane was regarded as a genial figure, but eventually not welcomed by Lane himself, who disliked the work. The overdue retirement of Lord Widgery, whose ill health had become a suppressed scandal, led to Hailsham picking Lane to follow him as Lord Chief Justice from 1980. The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, has a judicial function as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor and in former times Chancellor of England, is one of the most senior and important functionaries in the government of the United Kingdom. ... The Right Honourable Quintin McGarel Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, KG, CH, PC (October 9, 1907–October 12, 2001), formerly 2nd Viscount Hailsham (1950–1963), was a British Conservative politician. ... The Right Honourable Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925), is a British stateswoman and was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, also Leader of the Opposition from 1975, and the only woman to date to hold the former... The British general election of May 3, 1979 was a pivotal point in 20th century British politics. ... John Passmore Widgery, Baron Widgery (July 24, 1911 - July 26, 1981) was a British Judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 1971 to 1980. ... The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, and the presiding judge of Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, and of the Queens Bench Division of the High Court. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

Lord Chief Justice

Shortly after taking over as Lord Chief Justice, Lane attracted political controversy when he called for a general reduction in prison terms. His appeal judgments frequently cut the length of sentences and he was known to be a member of the Prison Reform Trust. He had served as deputy chairman of the Parole Board from 1970 to 1972. After the publication of lengthy interviews with members of the jury in the trial of Jeremy Thorpe, Lane supported moves (later made in the Contempt of Court Act 1981) to ban any publication of reports from within the jury room. Lane also opposed the proposal to extend rights of audience in the higher courts to solicitors. A Parole Board is a panel of people who decide whether a criminal should be allowed to be released from prison following him or her serving the minimum term of their sentence. ... This article can be confusing for some readers, and needs to be edited for clarity. ... The Right Honourable John Jeremy Thorpe (born April 29, 1929) is a British politician, former leader of the Liberal Party. ... This article needs to be wikified. ...

One of the areas of crime in which Lane did not support shorter sentences was rape. In 1982 Lane stated that sentences for rape should include immediate prison time, except in the most exceptional circumstances, which was taken as an implied rebuke for a Judge who had attracted controversy for fining a rapist £2,000 and saying that the victim was "guilty of a great deal of contributory negligence". Lane made it clear he rejected the general concept that victims of rape could have given their attackers an excuse. Much later in his career, Lane was responsible for a judgment in the case of R. v. R. which for the first time held that a husband could be guilty of raping his wife, overturning the irrebuttable presumption at common law that a wife consented to sex with her husband. 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The pound sterling, which strictly speaking refers to basic currency unit of sterling, now the pound, is the currency of the United Kingdom (UK). ... Contributory negligence is a common law defence to a claim or action in tort. ... A conclusive presumption (also known as an irrebuttable presumption) in English law is an presumption of law that cannot that cannot be rebutted by evidence and must be taken to be the case whatever the evidence to the contrary. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...

Many observers regarded Lane as a defender of traditional 'Victorian' morality rather than a supporter of mild feminism. In 1983 he gave the Darwin Lecture at Cambridge, in which he stated that he believed that the word "gay" should not be used to mean homosexual, and that instead the term should be "homosexuals, and/or buggers". 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with one of the most selective entry requirements in the United Kingdom. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Since its coining, the term homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ...

Miscarriages of justice

Lane had an early introduction to controversies and disputed convictions when in 1962 he was the junior Crown counsel in the trial of James Hanratty for the A6 murder. Hanratty was hanged but disputes over whether he was properly convicted have continued to this day. He also represented the Metropolitan Police at the Brabin inquiry into the conviction and subsequent hanging of Timothy Evans for the murders at 10 Rillington Place in 1950. From the mid-1980s, concern grew. On December 5, 1985, Lane quashed the conviction of Anthony Mycock who had been convicted of a robbery which the BBC television programme Rough Justice argued had never occurred. In his judgment, Lane asserted that there had been a robbery and criticised the programme for "outrageous" interview methods. He regarded such programmes as "mere entertainment". 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... James Hanratty (October 4, 1936 – April 4, 1962) was hanged for murder after being convicted of carrying out the notorious 1961 A6 murder case. Ever since, he has remained at the centre of a controversy over whether the conviction was sound. ... The A6 murder is a crime which many believe led to a major United Kingdom. ... Death Penalty World Map Color Key: Blue: Abolished for all crimes Green: Abolished, except for crimes committed under certain circumstances (such as crimes committed in time of war) Orange: Abolished in practice Red: Legal form of punishment Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the judicially ordered... Metropolitan Police redirects here. ... Timothy John Evans (November 20, 1924 - March 9, 1950) was a young man, possibly mentally retarded, who was hanged in England in 1950 for the murder of his young daughter. ... 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill, Notting Hill Gate, London, was the site of one of Britains most notorious serial killers, and a miscarriage of justice which contributed towards the abolition of the death penalty in Britain. ... December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom. ... Rough Justice was the debut single of The Rolling Stones 2005 album A Bigger Bang in the United States. ...

When Birmingham Six were granted permission to appeal in 1987, Lane presided over what was (at six weeks) the longest criminal appeal in English legal history. The judgment, given on January 28, 1988, adopted all the key parts of the Crown case, dismissed defence witnesses as unreliable, and upheld the convictions. Lane concluded by sending a message to the Home Secretary: "As has happened before in References by the Home Secretary to this court, the longer this hearing has gone on the more convinced this court has become that the verdict of the jury was correct." This implied rebuke and invitation not to refer any more questioned cases was criticised by campaigners. Lane initially refused leave to appeal to Winston Silcott, convicted of the murder of Keith Blakelock in the midst of a strong campaign of vilification from tabloid newspapers. Silcott's conviction for the Blakelock murder was ultimately quashed in 1991. The Birmingham Six were Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker. ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Secretary of State for the Home Department (the Home Secretary) is the chief United Kingdom government minister responsible for law and order in England and Wales; his or her remit includes policing, the criminal justice system, the prison service, internal security, and matters of citizenship and immigration. ... Winston Silcott was one of the Tottenham Three who were convicted in March 1987 of the murder of Police Constable Keith Blakelock on the night of 6 October 1985 during the Broadwater Farm riot in north London. ... PC Keith Henry Blakelock QGM (1945 - 6 October 1985) was a police constable in the London Metropolitan Police who was killed by a mob during the Broadwater Farm riot. ...

Unfortunately for Lane, 1989 saw the appeal of the Guildford Four where police malpractice was proved conclusively. In this case, Lane overturned the convictions. One observer described his appearance: "The Lord Chief Justice seemed to sniff something nasty in the air. Peering out over half-moon spectacles, Lord Lane's weary face was the mask of Justice embarrassed." [1] Lane refused to free Paul Hill, one of the Four, because of a separate conviction for murder in Northern Ireland, although this later turned out also to have been a wrongful conviction. 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Guildford Four were Paul Hill, Gerry Conlon, Patrick (Paddy) Armstrong and Carole Richardson, who were wrongly convicted in the United Kingdom in October 1975 for the Provisional IRAs Guildford pub bombing which killed five and injured over one hundred people. ... Royal motto: Quis separabit (Latin: Who will separate?) Northern Irelands location within the UK Official languages English, Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Area  - Total Ranked 4th 13,843 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 4th 1,685,267 122/km² NUTS 1...

The Birmingham Six were granted a further appeal (their third) in 1991, when more evidence established that the police evidence at their trial had been fabricated. The Director of Public Prosecutions announced before the appeal was held that he no longer considered their convictions safe and satisfactory. Lane did not preside over the appeal which formally cleared them. Their successful appeal lead to calls for Lane to resign, including a hostile editorial in The Times and a motion in the House of Commons signed by 140 MPs. These, and other cases where convictions were overturned, blighted the end of Lane's tenure as Lord Chief Justice. 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several jurisdictions around the world. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom. ... In some bicameral parliaments of a Westminster System, the House of Commons has historically been the name of the elected lower house. ... MP or mp can mean any of the following: Member of Parliament Military Police Modus ponens Madhya Pradesh - a state in India Mathematical Physics Microprocessor Machine Pistol Molecular Pathology Multi-port Multi-platform Mission Possible - a Christian based childrens ministry Mission Praise - a Christian hymn book Montgomery-Pfeifer - A...

Retirement

Despite previous thoughts that he would resign before the end of his time in order to enjoy an active retirement, Lane stayed in office until 1992. Despite remaining in office after the Birmingham Six were released, he nevertheless resigned over a year before the would have been forced to retire at the age of 75. He headed a commission in 1993 which recommended the end of the mandatory life sentence for murder, but otherwise kept a low profile (he never gave press interviews while in office and did not change that policy in his retirement). 1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... A mandatory sentence is a judicial decision setting the punishment to be inflicted on a person convicted of a crime where judicial discretion is limited by law. ...

External links

• Obituary (BBC News, August 24, 2005)
• Obituary (The Guardian, August 23, 2005)
• Obituary (The Telegraph, August 24, 2005)
• Obituary (The Times, August 24, 2005)
• Obituary (The Independent, August 25, 2005)

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John Passmore Widgery, Baron Widgery (July 24, 1911 - July 26, 1981) was a British Judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 1971 to 1980. ... The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, and the presiding judge of Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, and of the Queens Bench Division of the High Court. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Peter Murray Taylor, Baron Taylor of Gosforth QC PC (May 1, 1930 - April 28, 1997) was the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 1992 until his premature retirement due to poor health in 1996. ...