Sir David Armand Hopkin (10 January 1922 – 21 August 1997) was a British barrister, magistrate, and boxing administrator. He was

Chief Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate The Chief Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, known as Chief Metropolitan Police Magistrate until 1949, and also known as the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and Chief Magistrate of the Police Courts of the Metropolis, was a senior British magistrate ...

from 1982 to 1992, Chairman of the

British Boxing Board of Control The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...

from 1983 to 1993, and President of the same body from 1991 until 1997. The son of Welsh Labour politician Daniel Hopkin, also sometime a Metropolitan Stipendiary magistrate, and of Edmée Hopkin, David Hopkin was educated at St Paul's School, London,

University College, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 students studying across three academic facul ...

, and

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

, where he read Modern Languages. He served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

from 1942 to 1947, first in the Intelligence Corps, then in the Pioneer Corps, supervising Italian prisoners of war in Egypt. He attained the rank of honorary

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. After being

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 ...

by Gray's Inn in 1949, Hopkin joined the staff of the Director of Public Prosecutions in 1950, where he remained until 1970, rising to become deputy director of Public Prosecutions. Among the notable cases with which he was involved was the prosecution of the Richardson brothers and of

Frankie Fraser Francis Davidson Fraser (13 December 1923 – 26 November 2014), better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser, was an English gangster who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences.

in 1965 and of the

Kray twins Ronald Kray (24 October 193320 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were English gangsters or organised crime figures and identical twin brothers from Haggerston who were prominent from the late 1950s until their arres ...

in 1968. He was appointed a Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate in 1970, and in 1982 he became Chief Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, receiving the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1987. He retired in July 1992; at time, he was the longest-serving Chief Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate in modern times. Hopkin was involved with boxing administration since the 1950s, when he was invited to join the Southern Area Council of the British Boxing Board of Control by the boxing promoter

Jack Solomons Israel Jacob "Jack" Solomons (10 December 1900 – 9 December 1979) was a British boxing promoter who has been called "one of the greatest boxing promoters in history" and "England's greatest boxing impresario". Solomons was born in Petticoat L ...

. As chairman and president of the Board of Control, he campaigned for the standardisation of boxing regulations and the reform of the constitution of the

European Boxing Union The European Boxing Union (EBU), formerly known as the International Boxing Union (IBU), is a pan-European governing body that sanctions championship bouts in professional boxing. The EBU governs the EBU European Championship, in addition to their ...

References

* https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-sir-david-hopkin-1238736.html * https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-179314 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkin, David British sports executives and administrators Knights Bachelor Stipendiary magistrates (England and Wales) People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of Aberystwyth University Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Intelligence Corps officers Royal Pioneer Corps officers British Army personnel of World War II Welsh barristers Members of Gray's Inn 1922 births 1997 deaths