Sir Hamilton John Leonard (28 April 1926 – 10 August 2002) was an English

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and High Court judge. Described as "one of the great criminal specialists of his generation". He was involved in several prominent criminal cases, but is best known for his sentencing in the Ealing vicarage case, for which he was widely criticised for giving two rapists what were perceived as lenient sentences.Bottoms, pp. 19–23

Early life and education

Leonard was born in 1926 in either

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, or

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. His father owned a confectionery factory. He was educated at

Dean Close School Dean Close School is a co-educational private boarding and day school (for pupils aged 3–18) in the public school tradition, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1886 and is divided into pre-prep, prepa ...

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

. He joined the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

on leaving school in 1944, and served in Germany during World War II. After the war, he remained in Germany where he was involved in

courts-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

. He left the Army in 1947, having attained the rank of captain. He then received a bachelor's degree in law from

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

Legal career

Leonard was

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 ...

in 1951. He entered the chambers of John Buzzard and specialised in criminal cases. He generally though not invariably appeared for the prosecution. In 1964, he became the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

second junior prosecuting counsel, and

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

in 1969. His ''

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

'' obituary describes him as a "shrewd prosecutor and deadly cross-examiner", adding that his style was "fair and understated, precise rather than flamboyant." As a barrister, he was involved in the prosecutions of

Emil Savundra Michael Marion Emil Anacletus Pierre Savundranayagam (6 July 1923 – 21 December 1976), usually known as Emil Savundra, was a Sri Lankan swindler. The collapse of his Fire, Auto and Marine Insurance Company left about 400,000 motorists in ...

for

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

, 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 ...

for the murders of Frank Mitchell and Jack “The Hat” McVitie, of

Graham Young Graham Frederick Young (7 September 1947 – 1 August 1990), also known as the Teacup Poisoner, was an English serial killer who murdered his victims via poison. Obsessed with poisons from an early age, Young started poisoning the food and drink ...

for poisoning several colleagues with

thallium Thallium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Tl and atomic number 81. It is a silvery-white post-transition metal that is not found free in nature. When isolated, thallium resembles tin, but discolors when exposed to air. Che ...

, and of George Ince and others for the so-called " Barn Murder" of Muriel Patience. He also repeatedly defended Patrick Armstrong, one of the

Guildford Four The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were two groups of people, mostly Northern Irish, who were wrongly convicted in English courts in 1975 and 1976 of the Guildford pub bombings of 5 October 1974 and the Woolwich pub bombing of 7 November 1974 ...

, whose conviction for the

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

and Guildford pub bombings was eventually overturned. He was appointed successively deputy chair of the

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

quarter sessions (1969–71),

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

(1972–78), circuit judge (1978) and

Common Serjeant of London The Common Serjeant of London (full title The Serjeant-at-Law in the Common Hall) is an ancient British legal office, first recorded in 1291, and is the second most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court after the Recorder of Lon ...

(1979). In 1981, he became a High Court judge assigned to the Queen's Bench Division. He frequently sat in the Criminal Division of the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

. His ''Telegraph'' obituary said that he showed "all the hallmarks of a good judge: humanity, understanding, patience, tolerance – and firmness when needed. A master of language, his judgments were elegantly phrased and word-perfect, even though they tended to be delivered ''ex tempore''." He is best known for presiding at the trial of the Ealing vicarage case in 1987, a burglary in which two of the criminals raped Jill Saward at knifepoint; her father and another man were also seriously assaulted. Leonard gave Saward's rapists what were perceived to be lenient sentences for rape – especially in comparison with the sentence for

aggravated burglary Burglary is a statutory offence in England and Wales. In the three years to 2018 burglary reports in England and Wales rose by 6% while criminal charges for burglary fell by 33%. The number of police officers available to investigate burglary a ...

received by the group's ringleader, who had not participated in the rape. His actions were condemned by women's groups and others, with his comment that "the trauma suffered by the victim was not so great" being particularly castigated. The

criminologist Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

Anthony Bottoms Sir Anthony Edward Bottoms FBA (born 29 August 1939) is a British criminologist. He is life fellow at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, having previously been a Wolfson Professor of Criminology at the Institute of Criminology in the Faculty of Law ...

suggests that Leonard made an "inferential error" based on Saward's "dignified demeanour in court"; he also draws attention to the fact that much of the evidence later available about her long-term medical and psychological problems was not presented in court.Bottoms, pp. 33–34 James Morton, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', considered that the "repeated and humiliating criticism ... hurt eonarddeeply." In Leonard's speech on his retirement, he apologised to Saward and referred to his conduct in the case as a "blemish – I make no bones about it". As a High Court judge, Leonard also presided over the initial trial of Kiranjit Ahluwalia for the murder of her husband, a conviction later overturned. He was also one of the judges in the Court of Appeal in the unsuccessful appeal by the M25 Three; their convictions were later overturned. Outside court as a barrister he chaired the Criminal Bar Association, advised the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

on restricted patients (1973–79), and served on the

Judicial Studies Board The Judicial College, formerly the Judicial Studies Board (JSB), established in 1979, is the organisation responsible for training judges in county, the Crown, and higher courts in England and Wales and tribunal judges in England and Wales, Scotla ...

, as well as on a committee that reviewed the

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

and

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

laws.

Personal life

He met his wife Doreen (Dinkie) Parker in Germany during the war; she was in the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existe ...

. They married in 1948, and the couple had a son and a daughter. They lived at

Merstham Merstham is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies 17 miles south of Charing Cross just beyond the Greater London border. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the town. Merstham has ...

in Surrey. He retired in November 1993, after experiencing problems with his eyesight. His wife died in 1996, after an accident in Cyprus. Leonard died in 2002.

References

Source *

.
Hearing the Victim: Adversarial Justice, Crime Victims and the State
' (Routledge; 2010) () {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, John 1926 births 2002 deaths People from Poole People from Swindon People educated at Dean Close School Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford English King's Counsel 20th-century English judges Common Serjeants of London British Army personnel of World War II Coldstream Guards officers Military personnel from Wiltshire Military personnel from Dorset