Nigel Bridge, Baron Bridge of Harwich
Lord Justice of Appeal | |
---|---|
In office 1975–1980 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Nigel Cyprian Bridge | 26 February 1917
Died | 20 November 2007 | (aged 90)
Spouse |
Margaret Swinbank
(m. 1944; died 2006) |
Nigel Cyprian Bridge, Baron Bridge of Harwich,
Early life
Bridge was born in Codicote, Hertfordshire, the second son of Commander Cyprian Dunscomb Charles Bridge, Royal Navy, and of Gladys Bridge, née Steel, the daughter of a Lancashire cotton manufacturer. He never met his father, who had abandoned his mother shortly after his birth.[1] He was the younger brother of Anthony Bridge, later Dean of Guildford.
He followed his elder brother to Marlborough College, with a scholarship. Disliking the school, he went to Europe, where he learned French and German. Returning to Britain, he worked as a journalist on regional newspapers in Lancashire, and wrote an unpublished novel.
He volunteered to join the
Shortly after he was commissioned, and without any previous experience, he successfully defended a soldier on a charge of desertion at a court-martial. He then became much in demand as a defending officer, giving him a taste for advocacy.[1]
Legal career
Bridge was
From 1964 to 1968, he was
By tradition Treasury Devils were appointed to the High Court after their term, and after four years as Treasury Devil Bridge was appointed a Justice of the
Birmingham Six trial
In 1975, Bridge was the presiding judge at the trial of the Birmingham Six, who were accused of bombings in Birmingham in November 1974. It was his last case before he joined the Court of Appeal. The trial was marred by Bridge's health: at various points it was interrupted to allow him to see a dentist, for treatment for acute gastritis, and for lunchtime naps on his doctor's orders.[2][3] He lost his voice during the summing up, which was criticised as being biased against the defendants. He also admitted into evidence the defendants' confessions, despite the defence arguing that they were beaten out of them. During sentencing, he said that there was "the clearest and most overwhelming evidence I have ever heard in a case of murder".[2] The convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal in 1991, after the defendants had served 16 years in prison.
As a result of the trial, Bridge was added to the IRA's hit-list, and his house came under constant police protection. In a 1992 interview, Bridge said that he felt "unhappy", but not "guilty", about what had happened at the trial.[2]
Court of Appeal and House of Lords
Bridge became a
He was a member of the
He supported the majority decision in the Gillick case on medical consent in 1985, and in the McLoughlin v O'Brian case on recovery of damages for nervous shock.
He was elected an honorary fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge in 1989.
He served as Chairman of the Ecclesiastical Committee in Parliament.[5]
Later life
Bridge retired from the bench on reaching the compulsory retirement age of 75 in 1992. He was chairman of the Church of England Synodical Government Review from 1993–97. In retirement, he studied mathematics with the Open University, obtained a Bachelor of Science in 2003, aged 86.
Toward the end of his life he suffered a number of strokes. He died of cancer in London on 20 November 2007.
Family
Bridge married Margaret Swinbank, then a secretary at the War Office and the daughter of Leonard Heseltine Swinbank, on 8 January 1944. They had two daughters and one son. Lady Bridge of Harwich died in 2006.
Selected cases
- Borden (UK) Ltd v Scottish Timber Products Ltd [1981] Ch 25
- McLoughlin v O'Brian [1983] 1 AC 410
- Attorney-General v Guardian Newspapers Ltd[1987] 1 WLR 1248 (the Spycatcher case)
- Wilsher v Essex Area Health Authority[1988] AC 1074
- R v Secretary of State for Transport, Ex p Factortame Ltd [1990] 2 AC 85 (Factortame I)
- Caparo Industries plc v Dickman [1990] 2 AC 605
- Abbey National Building Society v Cann [1991] 1 AC 56
- Lloyds Bank plc v Rosset [1991] 1 AC 107
- Murphy v Brentwood District Council[1991] 1 AC 398
- Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1992] 1 AC 310
- Ruxley Electronics & Construction Ltd v Forsyth[1996] AC 344
Arms
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References
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/99207. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b c d "Lord Bridge of Harwich". The Daily Telegraph. 26 November 2007.
- ^ Eade, Philip (28 November 2007). "Lord Bridge of Harwich". The Guardian.
- ^ "No. 48326". The London Gazette. 2 October 1980. p. 13737.
- ^ 199th Report by the Ecclesiastical Committee upon the Diocesan Boards of Education Measure
- ^ "Bridge of Harwich, Baron (Law Lord) (UK, 1980 - 2007)". Cracroft's Peerage.
Sources
- "DodOnline". Archived from the original on 7 December 2006. Retrieved 29 November 2006.
- "Last word", bbc.co.uk, 30 November 2007
- Obituaries:
- British Army Officers 1939−1945