Gerald Howard

Sir Stephen Gerald Howard (7 June 1896 – 25 June 1973) was a British farmer, barrister and judge who was an active National Liberal and later Conservative Party politician. He had a junior role on the prosecution team in several celebrated trials in the immediate post-war era.

First World War

Howard was the son of

Stephen Goodwin Howard, who was Liberal Party Member of Parliament for Sudbury between 1918 and 1922. He was sent to Harrow School, but interrupted his education in 1916 to join the Royal Flying Corps. He became a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force on its formation in 1918. Later that year he left the RAF to go Balliol College, Oxford

where he studied law.

Criminal law barrister

Following his father's political affiliations, Howard was a candidate at the 1922 general election for Eye in Suffolk as a National Liberal with Conservative Party support.

In 1924, Howard was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn. He became a criminal law barrister, generally appearing as a junior for the prosecution; he also remained very attached to East Anglia where he farmed on the family estate. While appearing not to have any personal interest in the way the case turned out, he was a skillful advocate and appeared in many high-profile cases.

In November 1936, he was appointed to be third junior counsel for the crown (a crown prosecutor) at the Old Bailey (Central Criminal Court). In December 1942 he was elected a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn.