Sir Michael Morland (born 16 July 1929) is a British barrister and retired judge. He was a Justice of the High Court (Queen's Bench Division) from 1989 to 2004. He is best remembered as the judge who tried Robert Thompson and Jon Venables for the murder of James Bulger.

Biography

Educated at

Stowe School , motto_translation = I stand firm and I stand first , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent school, day & boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, Morland served in the Grenadier Guards as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

from 1948 to 1949, seeing service in Malaya. He 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 ...

by the Inner Temple in 1953 (becoming a bencher of the inn in 1979). He then joined the Northern Circuit, becoming a Queen's Counsel in 1972. Morland was a

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 news ...

from 1972 to 1989, when he was appointed to the High Court, receiving the customary knighthood. Assigned to the Queen's Bench Division, he was Presiding Judge of the Northern Circuit from 1991 to 1995. In 1993, Morland tried Robert Thompson and Jon Venables for the murder of James Bulger. Upon conviction, they became the

youngest convicted murderers This is a list of youngest killers. Individuals in this list are documented to be age 17 or younger. __TOC__ Younger than age 13 Age 13 to 17 See also * Capital punishment for juveniles in the United States Capital punishment fo ...

in modern British history. Morland sentenced them to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, with a recommendation that they should be kept in custody for "very, very many years to come", recommending a minimum term of eight years. He also lifted the anonymity orders on the two boys after they were convicted. Morland retired in 2004 upon reaching the statutory age. In retirement, Morland chaired the inquiry into the killing of

Rosemary Nelson Rosemary Nelson (''née'' Magee; 4 September 1958 – 15 March 1999) was an Irish solicitor who was killed with a bomb planted in her car by an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in 1999. A bomb exploded under Nelson's car at her home in Lurgan ...

References

External links

* https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-28116 Queen's Bench Division judges Knights Bachelor 1929 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century British judges Grenadier Guards officers People educated at Stowe School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple British King's Counsel British barristers {{England-law-bio-stub