Thomas Hetherington
QC (18 September 1926 – 28 March 2007), better known as Sir Tony Hetherington, was a British barrister. He was Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales from 1977 to 1987, and was the first head of the Crown Prosecution Service
for the year after it was founded in 1986.
Early life
Hetherington was born on 18 September 1926 in
called to the Bar in 1952 at the Inner Temple
.
Career
Military career
On 5 January 1947, he was granted an emergency commission into the
on 11 May 1948. [4] He saw active service in the Middle East in the aftermath of World War II.[1]He continued to serve in the
Territorial Army until 1967, rising to the rank of major
. Battery Commander of P (7th London) Battery 254 City of London Regiment Royal Artillery (TA)
Legal career
He joined the
Treasury Solicitor
in 1975.
The
Sir Cyril Smith.[5]
The later years of his service were dominated by wide-ranging changes to the criminal legal system in the UK. A perceived
Judges Rules
, and the Crown Prosecution Service was created in 1986 under the terms of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, with Hetherington as its first head until he retired in 1987.
Later life
In 1989, shortly after his retirement, he co-wrote the Hetherington-Chalmers Report with former Scottish
Second World War," over which British courts did not then have jurisdiction. The report followed a 15-month inquiry in which allegations against 301 suspects were investigated. The report's recommendations led two years later to the War Crimes Act 1991, which was passed over objections of the House of Lords using the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949
.
He suffered from a degenerative neurological illness in later life. He was survived by his wife, the former June Catliff, whom he married in 1953, and their four daughters.
References
- ^ a b "Sir Thomas Hetherington". The Daily Telegraph. 30 March 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
- ^ "Sir Thomas Hetherington". The Times. 30 March 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
- ^ "No. 37891". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 February 1947. p. 964.
- ^ "No. 38284". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 May 1948. p. 2864.
- ^ BBC News Site
External links
- Obituary, The Times, 30 March 2007
- Obituary[dead link], The Daily Telegraph, 30 March 2007
- Obituary, The Guardian, 2 April 2007
- Obituary, The Independent, 6 April 2007]