He studied mathematical sciences in his retirement, partly to show that he retained his cognitive abilities, and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the Open University in 2003, aged 86. His retirement from the bench in 1992 was compulsory, having reached the age of 75. He supported the majority decision in the Gillick case on medical consent in 1985, and in the McLoughlin v O'Brian case on recovery of damages for nervous shock. He criticised the government's case to prevent publication of the contents of Peter Wright's book as "ridiculous". He joined Lord Oliver of Aylmerton in dissenting from the majority decision in the Spycatcher case in 1987. He was mooted as a successor to Lord Widgery as Lord Chief Justice in 1979, and to Lord Denning as Master of the Rolls in 1982, but did not secure either position. He was the only Law Lord without a university degree. ![]() He became a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in 1980, and was created a life peer with the title Baron Bridge of Harwich, of Harwich, in the County of Essex. ![]() He was a member of the Security Commission from 19, serving as chairman between 19, in which capacity he published a report into the vetting of staff at Buckingham Palace. He became a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1975, and became a Privy Counsellor. Lord Lane, Lord Chief Justice, hearing the case on appeal, remarked that the reason the conviction succeeded at first instance was because the police "lied". The defendants served 16 years in prison before the convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal in 1991 due to new evidence emerging - principally, that the defendants had been beaten by the police to secure their confessions (similar claims having been dismissed by Bridge at the original trial). In his last case before he joined the Court of Appeal, his summing up was criticised as being biased against the defendants, with him saying that there was "the clearest and most overwhelming evidence I have ever heard in a case of murder". He was Presiding Judge of the Western Circuit from 1972-74.īridge was the presiding judge at the trial of the Birmingham six, who were accused of bombings in Birmingham in November 1974. He became a High Court Judge in 1968, joining the Queen's Bench Division, and was knighted. He was later Reader in 1986 and Treasurer in 1986.įrom 1964 to 1968, he was Junior Counsel to the Treasury (Common Law) (also known as "Treasury Devil"), as a sure route to the bench. ![]() He was made a Bencher at Inner Temple in 1964. He became a pupil of Martin Jukes, and later practised as a Barrister-at-Law at 3 Temple Gardens from 1950, in the chambers headed by Lord Widgery, undertaking mainly personal injury work, but also town and country planning and local government law. Legal careerīridge was called to the Bar at Inner Temple in 1947, having achieved the first place in that year's bar exams. He married Margaret Swinbank, daughter of Leonard Heseltine Swinbank in 1944. He was conscripted into the British Army in 1940, serving in the King's Royal Rifle Corps and GHQ Liaison Regiment, reaching the rank of Captain before being demobilised in 1946. He volunteered to join the Fleet Air Arm before the Second World War broke out, but was rejected as being colour blind. He worked as a journalist on regional newspapers in Lancashire, and wrote an unpublished novel. Bridge left Marlborough aged 17, and spent time in Europe, where he learned French and German. His brother was later a painter before becoming a Church of England priest and latterly Dean of Guildford Cathedral. He followed his elder brother, Antony, to Marlborough College, winning a scholarship. His parents separated shortly after his birth. His mother was the daughter of a cotton manufacturer from Lancashire. Bridge's father was Commander Cyprian Dunscomb Charles Bridge of the Royal Navy.
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