Did He Do It?
Name of accused: Sir Stephen Price Richards (a.k.a Lord Justice Richards)
Age: 56
Date of Birth: 8th December 1950
1975 - Called to the Bar, Gray’s Inn
1987 - Took Silk
1989-91 - Standing Counsel to Director General of Fair Trading
1990-91 - Junior Counsel to the Crown
1992-96 - Assistant Recorder
1996-97 - Recorder
1992 - Bencher, Gray’s Inn
1997 - Judge of the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division
2000-03 - Presiding Judge, Wales and Chester Circuit
2005 - Lord Justice of Appeal
With a legal career spanning more than 30 years, it was reported by the BBC on 21st January 2007 that the accused had indecently exposed himself to a woman while on a train. He has since denied the allegation on the basis of mistaken identity and a summary trial (no jury - at the election of the accused) is scheduled to be held in June 2007.
Strangely enough, there is nothing on the Judiciary website or the DCA website about this at all.
The Judicial Communications Office has apparently made a statement (presumably in response to press inquiries) to the effect that while Richards LJ has not been suspended, he will not be sitting until this matter is finally resolved. So how is his Lordship's time currently being occupied?
While there is always a presumption of innocence in favour of the accused until guilt has been lawfully determined, there remains the possibility that Richards LJ may be found guilty. There are rumours that he was caught on CCTV exposing himself to the complainant and unless that evidence is somehow inadmissible or proven to be unreliable, there may be an Address tabled in Parliament resulting in his defrocking. I don't think there has been an Address for the removal of a member of the senior judiciary in recent memory and purely as a matter of curiosity as to a point of Parliamentary procedure, it should be interesting to see how this is done.
More interestingly, this scandal involving a senior member of the judiciary seems to have attracted far less attention than if the acccused at the centre of similar allegations was a politician or perhaps even a celebrity. Are judges really such boring people that their alleged foibles, however scandalous are of no interest to the British public?
On a personal note, if Fabio/Damien/Alfonso exposed himself to me on a train, I wouldn't complain. I'd take him home with me to check out the rest of him. However, the accused really isn't my type at all. I might not want to see more of his person but I probably wouldn't bother going to the police about it, even if I knew he was a puisne judge. I'd put it down to it being an act of sad, mentally ill, middle-aged man.
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