- Oliver Popplewell
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Oliver Popplewell Personal information Batting style Right-hand bat Bowling style unknown International information National side English Career statistics Competition Tests First-class Matches 0 41 Runs scored - 881 Batting average - 20.48 100s/50s - 0/2 Top score - 74 not out Balls bowled - 3 Wickets - 0 Bowling average - - 5 wickets in innings - - 10 wickets in match - - Best bowling - 0/10 Catches/stumpings - 63/16 Source: [1], The Honourable Sir Oliver Bury Popplewell (born 15 August 1927 in Northwood, Middlesex) is a former British judge. He chaired the inquiry into the Bradford City stadium fire, presided over the libel case brought by Jonathan Aitken MP against The Guardian newspaper which eventually led to Aitkin's imprisonment for perjury, and was widely reported for asking "What is Linford's lunchbox?" during a case over which he was presiding, brought by Linford Christie. He played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and was president of the MCC from 1994 until 1996. He wrote a book about his legal career.
Contents
Biography
Popplewell's father, aged 47 when Oliver was born, was a civil servant in the Board of Trade.[1] A widower, Sir Oliver remarried fellow-barrister Dame Elizabeth Gloster in March 2008.[2] He is the father of four sons,[1] the eldest of whom is the Cambridge University and Somerset cricketer, Nigel Popplewell,[3], and another of whom (Andrew) is also a High Court Judge. He has 13 grandchildren[4] amongst whom is the actress Anna Popplewell.
Education
Popplewell went to Charterhouse School as a scholar, where he played cricket with Peter May and future politician Jim Prior,[5] and after spending two years of National Service in the Royal Navy,[1] he went to Queens' College, Cambridge as an exhibitioner. He was awarded a B.A. degree in 1950 and an LL.B. in 1951.[6]
In 2003, Popplewell became one of the oldest mature students at the University of Oxford when he started reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Harris Manchester College.[7][8]
Cricket
Popplewell was a right-handed wicket-keeper-batsman, playing 56 innings in 41 matches, scoring 881 runs for an average of 20.46 including two half-centuries.[9] He played for Cambridge University from 1949 until 1951 at the time when Rev DS Sheppard was playing for the University, for MCC in 1953, and for the Free Foresters from 1952 until 1960.[3] His only bowling stint was three balls[10] for MCC against Cambridge University in 1953.[11] He was president of the MCC from 1994 to 1996.[1]
Legal career
Popplewell was called to the bar in 1951. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1969. After serving as Recorder of Burton upon Trent and Deputy Chairman of Oxfordshire Quarter Sessions, he was appointed as Recorder of the Crown Court in 1971. He was a High Court judge from 1983 until 2003. During this time, he chaired the Bradford Inquiry into Crowd Control and Safety at Sports Grounds in 1985. He became president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal and vice chairman of the Parole Board in 1986, and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 1996.[6]
Cases
In 1975, he defended a then-18-year-old Stephen Fry at his trial for credit card fraud. Popplewell and his wife had long been friends of Fry's parents. Stephen Fry writes about the event in his autobiography Moab Is My Washpot.
Following the fire at Valley Parade, the Bradford City stadium, on 11 May 1985, Popplewell was chosen to chair an inquiry held under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975. Following this inquiry, he was chosen to chair a Committee of Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds. In 1999, he donated the papers of the inquiry to the University of Bradford.[12]
He presided over the libel case brought by Jonathan Aitken against The Guardian and Granada Television.[1]
While presiding over the High Court case brought by the athlete Linford Christie against former criminal John McVicar, the editor of Spike magazine, he was widely reported as asking, "What is Linford's lunchbox?". He later claimed that this was intended as a joke.[13] The question was in the tradition of British jurisprudence, in which the judge asks seemingly inane questions relevant to the facts of the case on the assumption that the jury, which cannot ask questions, is ignorant of them. Following this case, the name "Mr Justice Cocklecarrot" was revived by Private Eye magazine (it was originally the name of a character in the Beachcomber column in the Daily Express) which became the magazine's generic name for unworldly and out-of-touch judges,[7] though Popplewell asserts that this description did not apply to him.[14]
He upheld Reynold's privilege, established in the House of Lords in Reynolds v Times Newspapers in 1999, in an action against the Yorkshire Post for reporting that a local karate company was selling "rip-off" lessons.[15]
Since he retired, Popplewell has spoken up for the right of judges to impose the sentences they see fit. He had an argument with Home Secretary David Blunkett who was seeking to introduce mandatory minimum sentences for some serious crimes.[16]
Hillsborough Controversy
On the 19th October 2011 he sparked fury by calling on the Liverpool families involved in the Hillsborough disaster to behave more like the relatives of victims of the Bradford City stadium disaster. He made the comments in a letter to The Times following the Commons debate[17] on 17th October 2011 calling for all Cabinet papers on Hillsborough to be released.
He said: "The citizens of Bradford behaved with quiet dignity and great courage. They did not harbour conspiracy theories. They did not seek endless further inquiries"[18] His letter was published by the Times sister paper, The Sun, which is boycotted on Merseyside, the day after it was revealed to Parliament that senior policemen had changed the evidence of junior policemen whose evidence contradicted the official version given to the press by police spokesmen. David Cameron , the Prime Minister , came as close as any politician to apologize for the concerted effort by the police to blame the supporters for the disaster , promising full disclosure of evidence within the coming months.
Popplewell was widely criticised for his comments[19] , including a rebuke from a survivor of the Bradford stadium disaster[20] .
Bibliography
- Benchmark: A Life in the Law by Oliver Popplewell (foreword by Stephen Fry) Publisher: I.B. Tauris (30 June 2003) ISBN 978-1860648861
- Football in Its Place by David Canter, Miriam Comber and David L. Uzzell with an introduction by Sir Oliver Popplewell, Publisher: Taylor & Francis Books Ltd (4 May 1989) ISBN 978-0415012409
References
- ^ a b c d e Dyer, Clare (2003-05-20). accessdate =2008-07-26 "The real world of Oliver Popplewell". The Guardian. Guardian Newspapers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/may/20/law.claredyer accessdate =2008-07-26.
- ^ "Brief affair ends with a wedding". The Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers Ltd). 1 February 2008. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnists/article-511588/Brief-affair-ends-wedding.html. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
- ^ a b "Teams played for by Oliver Popplewell". CricketArchive. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/32/32121/all_teams.html. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
- ^ Kay, Richard (2007-02-19). "Sir Oliver enters a new reality". The Daily Mail - Ramsay's brotherly nightmare. Associated Newspapers. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnists/article-437252/Ramsays-brotherly-nightmare.html. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
- ^ "Benchmark: Life, Laughter and the Law (Hardcover)". Synopsis. Amazon.co.uk. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Benchmark-Life-Laughter-Stephen-Fry/dp/186064886X. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
- ^ a b "The Honourable Sir Oliver Popplewell". ADR Chambers International. http://www.adrchambersinternational.com/cvpopplewell.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
- ^ a b Johnson, Rachel (2003-11-01). "The oldest fresher in town". The Spectator. http://www.spectator.co.uk/print/the-magazine/features/11753/the-oldest-fresher-in-town.thtml. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
- ^ Burns, Emma (2005-05-10). "The old course at St Andrews?". The Times. Times Newspapers. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article520570.ece. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
- ^ Oliver Popplewell at cricinfo.com
- ^ cricinfo.com Op. cit.
- ^ "Cambridge University v Marylebone Cricket Club". CricketArchive. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/20/20648.html. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
- ^ "The Papers of the Popplewell Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds". Library - Special Collections. University of Bradford. 2007-12-13. http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/popplewell.php. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
- ^ Legal legend and the 'lunchbox' question - The Times 20 May 2003
- ^ The real world of Oliver Popplewell - the guardian 20 May 2003
- ^ Speker, Adam (2007-05-17). "United Kingdom: Privilege, And This Time We Mean It". Media & Entertainment. Mondaq. http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=48132&login=true. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
- ^ Blunkett branded 'a whiner' - BBC 14 May 2003
- ^ "Hillsborough decision 'a victory for democracy'". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-15349118. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ^ "Former judge tells Hillsborough families to drop 'conspiracy theories'". The Guardian. 19 October 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/oct/19/judge-hillsborough-families-conspiracy-theories. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ^ "Sir Oliver Popplewell outrages campaigners with comments". Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/8835870/Hillsborough-disaster-Sir-Oliver-Popplewell-outrages-campaigners-with-comments.html. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ^ "Bradford fire survivor attacks judge over Hillsborough comments". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/oct/20/bradford-disaster-attacks-judge-hillsborough. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
Categories:- 1927 births
- Living people
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- Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge
- Alumni of Harris Manchester College, Oxford
- People from Northwood, London
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- Queen's Bench Division judges
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- Queen's Counsel 1901–2000
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