LEEDS
Before
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE POOLE
EULOGY TO THE LATE RECORDER OF LEEDS
HIS HONOUR JUDGE BRIAN WALSH QC
APPEARANCES
On behalf of the Bar: MR. M. SWIFT QC
On behalf of the Law Society: MR. A. SUGARÉ
On behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service: MR. M. TAYLOR
Transcription from the Palantype Notes of J.L. Harpham Limited
Official Court Reporters and Tape Transcribers
As you know, Mr. Swift, the Recorder of Leeds, His Honour Judge Brian Walsh QC, died peacefully in his home in Leeds on Saturday. On an occasion such as this, the milestones of a career as richly distinguished as his can only be sketched. Born in 1935, he was the son of a distinguished solicitor in this city and the nephew of Josh Walsh, a quondam Lord Mayor of Leeds. He attended Leeds Grammar School, becoming Head Boy there, the first Jewish Head Boy of that great school.
He was then commissioned as a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force before reading law at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he was President of the Union in 1959. He was called to the Bar in 1961 at the Middle Temple, where he was a Harmsworth scholar and a Blackstone scholar and where, in 1986, he was elected a Bencher.
He became a member of the North-Eastern Circuit, his own circuit, immediately after call and thereafter practised on and from this circuit from the chambers of John Willis at 37 Park Square, Leeds, where there were many enviable talents, including those of Harry Ognall and Gilbert Gray. He soon acquired a practice, an enormous one, guaranteed by the elegance and strength of his advocacy. He took silk in 1977 and moved to 2 Park Square, now Park Court Chambers. Particularly but not only in the field of criminal law, and whether you were prosecutor or defendant, Brian Walsh was a man you wanted in your corner, and, as many of us were to find, if he was your opponent you knew you were in for a fight, albeit one that was open and fair.
He was to hold the leading brief in countless heavy cases, often of high profile. His advice became respected and valued wherever he went, whether on this circuit or beyond. On my own circuit, and especially perhaps in Liverpool, he was greatly admired, and there they are not easy to please. They still speak with awe of a speech he made for the defence after not calling his client. In it, he never once alluded to the evidence, but instead took the jury on a trawl through the long forgotten news events of the date of the crime, asking them how on earth his client could possibly be expected to remember the events of so distant a day. A triumphant acquittal followed. The prosecution was furious. I know. (Laughter) To any very junior members of the Bar who may be listening: don't try this trick at home.
From 1990 to 1994, he was Leader of the North-Eastern Circuit and, from 1982 to 1986 and again from 1990 to 1996, a member of the General Council of the Bar. He was a member of the Circuit Executive Committee for no fewer than sixteen years from 1980 to 1996, no sinecure, as anyone who has served on such committees will attest. The interests of the Bar and of this circuit were dear to him and they both owe him much.
In 1996, he was appointed to the Bench and became Recorder of this city and, in these courts with their formidable workload, he quickly established himself as a firm but humane tribunal with the immense and varied experience that he could bring to bear.
Beyond the courts, Brian Walsh's contributions to the life of his community were every bit as energetic and as valued. He was a supremely gifted public speaker, very often for charity, and I am conscious here, Mr. Swift, of addressing those, many of whom will have had the good fortune of hearing him on top form, whether after mess on circuit or in one of the Inns of Court at a congratulatory dinner. When it came to holding his audience, there was none better and very few his equal. He was a master, whether of the one-liner or the sustained polemic. I could have done with his assistance in the compilation of a sketch even as bare as this.
He was a member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal from 1986; a governor of Leeds Grammar School from 1977 and of Leeds Girls High School from 1978 to 1996; President of the Old Leodensian Association from 1983 to 1985; and, later, a member of the Court of Leeds University, his efforts unstinting in each of these capacities.
He had a fervent passion for cricket and especially for Yorkshire cricket. He was Vice-President of the County Cricket Club from 1993 and, finally, Chairman from 1986 to 1991, turbulent years for the Yorkshire club, if a mere Lancastrian may be permitted to say so, and years in which Brian's intelligence, commitment and guidance were of incalculable and lasting value; and, in 1998, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire.
These then were the glittering prizes and many are those who have benefited, because Brian Walsh, having attained them, turned them to the profit of others. But they do not tell even half the story, for beyond all of that and above all he was a kind man, delightful company, a warm and loyal friend and a devoted and much-loved husband and father. Last week, I was lucky enough to spend and to enjoy an hour in his company. Though physically frail, his intelligence, his humour, his lucidity, in short his spirit, were entirely undiminished. For all of that, as for so much else, his devoted wife Susan must take the credit. Our thoughts are especially with her and her two daughters, Belinda and Alison, as well as with his younger brother and sister and with the rest of his close family. It is their loss, a grievous one, and one that we respectfully share. But there are few families with a life of service and style as luminous as his to celebrate.
MR. SWIFT: My Lord, the last time I stood in this position was on the retirement of His Honour Judge Myerson QC when the Recorder of Leeds delivered one of his typically brilliant, witty and matchless tributes and now, so few months later, it falls to me to respond again, this time not to him but about him.
Brian Walsh will be sorely missed, by his family of course; by Susan, who of course cannot be here today, but who has been a pillar of strength in these last few months; by Belinda, who is here today; and Alison of course. Brian was supremely proud of his daughters and of their achievements. And, of course, by all the other members of this very close family. Our thoughts are with them all today.
But he is also missed by the entire community. Yesterday, those who knew Brian from his many areas of activity thronged the cemetery. Today, those who knew him in the legal profession, on the Bench, in the Court Service and many others, by our very presence in such numbers, pay tribute to the man we knew, loved and respected. This attendance speaks volumes for Brian's popularity.
Not one to miss an opportunity for humour, however sombre the occasion, I think he would appreciate the spectacle of counsel and solicitors battling to appear in his Court. He would no doubt have said "What an ill-assorted bunch of jurors and waiting jurors there are in Court today," and "The dock is full of dreadful miscreants and the public gallery in need of immediate clearance". But we are all here in such numbers because we are paying tribute to a friend.
His pupils, of course, are present. Andrew Woolman was one and I was the other. We were both extremely privileged to be taught by Brian.
My time in pupillage featured a series of amazing acquittals in the face of seemingly overwhelming evidence and I used to come away thinking "How on earth did he do that?". And he never taught me the answer. (Laughter)
Brian has been much in our thoughts of late. In fact, on Sunday morning, before we had even heard that Brian had died, Fiona and I were talking about him, as we had done many times in recent months, and discussing in fact what I had learned during my pupillage with him. I said that the lessons which stand out in my mind are three. One was seeing Brian's meticulously prepared and structured cross-examination notes. Secondly, watching him relentlessly cornering a witness or a defendant until there was no escape. Thirdly, a lesson for all young barristers, hearing him tell me that it was impossible to read a brief too many times. "Every time you read it" he used to say "you will see something new".
He also taught me that there was no such thing as a civil case which was incapable of settlement, particularly if there was another the following day. (Laughter)
Speaking personally, I have lost not just my master in the law, but a good and reliable friend. It gives me particular pride to have been able to follow in his footsteps as a Leader of the North-Eastern Circuit. I find it so hard to believe that he was still the Circuit Leader a mere eight years ago.
My son Daniel has lost his godfather; and many Christian godparents could take a leaf out of Brian's book. He was a fine mentor and a good friend to Daniel. He took his responsibilities very seriously indeed and was always there to give sound advice and support, and we are going to miss him very much.
I shall miss his tales of Yorkshire Cricket. He would have been able to tell us all precisely what Yorkshire were doing twenty-five years ago today. I shall miss his wonderful after dinner speeches and his many hilariously contrived stories. Once you had heard him speak at several dinners, particularly if they fell close together, you began to understand that favourite joke of his when he said that it was, and indeed it was, like déjà vu all over again. (Laughter)
The fact that we are in the middle of the Olympic Games reminds me of an occasion many years ago when Brian was the principal speaker at the Sportsman of the Year Dinner. It was televised. Brian was introducing that great Olympic swimmer David Wilkie, who had just been voted Sportsman of the Year. Brian uttered the immortal line to millions watching on television when he said "And here is David Wilkie, presented with an Olympic Gold Medal for doing something my clients get eighteen months for". (Laughter) His one-liners always reigned supreme.
Those of us who were privileged to be present in Middle Temple Hall in 1992, indeed a great circuit occasion, to celebrate the elevation of Mr. Justice Holland to the High Court Bench, of Lord Justice Kennedy to the Court of Appeal, Lord Mustill of Pateley Bridge to the House of Lords and Lord Taylor of Gosforth to be Lord Chief Justice of England and who heard Brian's Leader's speech on that occasion will never forget that it was not just a brilliant piece of oratory, but a reminder to certain of those present of his triumphant vindication.
I shall miss his forensic skill. He was a master of the art of cross-examination at the Bar and on the Bench. No dishonest witness ever escaped unscathed. His timing as a questioner was as impeccable as his timing as an after dinner speaker. He had that consummate gift of the perfectly timed intervention, which ensured that no witness was ever able to qualify an incriminating answer. There was that clearing of the throat which indicated that the coup de grace was at hand. (Laughter)
On the Bench, we will all remember that sinking feeling as his summing up laid bare the deficiencies in an apparently plausible defence. But I shall, above all, miss his friendship, both at the Bar and on the Bench. If I was ever in his Court or even in the building, he never failed but to ask me in for a chat, to catch up on what was happening at or to the Bar. He never failed to support the Bar in its latest tribulations at the hands of the Lord Chancellor. He understood the difficulties of modern day practice and he did everything in his power to assist any advocate in any way he could. He was unfailingly courteous and kind. So, above all, we shall all miss the man.
Everyone in this room will have a personal memory of Brian, an incident, a story, a phrase, a gesture, a lesson or a kindness. I have memories of all of those things.
MR. SUGARÉ: My Lord, may I thank you for allowing me the opportunity on behalf of the Law Society of paying our own tribute to His Honour Judge Brian Walsh.
Can I firstly offer our deepest sympathy to Susan and all the family on their sad loss.
Brian, as you have heard, came from a family steeped in the law, with both his father and uncle practising with distinction as solicitors in this city for many years. During Brian's time as Leader of the North-Eastern Circuit and following his appointment to the Bench as Recorder of Leeds, he did maintain and cement the excellent relationship which has existed in this city between the respective branches of the legal profession. He was a regular attender at both the Leeds Law Society Annual Dinner and the Joint Bar Solicitors Dinner.
Those who had the good fortune to instruct him, as I did, as both junior counsel and then as silk, would know of the amount of time he spent in the preparation of his brief, and woe betide any solicitor who came to a conference unprepared. He was a seeker after perfection, but no finer advocate could an accused have on his side.
To state as the obituary writer in the local press did that he was a controversial judge was, in my humble opinion, further from the truth. There was never any controversy. When a defence solicitor applied for bail, it was refused. (Laughter)
His passing will be a very sad loss to the legal profession. His mark in the city and beyond as a lawyer, sportsman and most humorous after dinner speaker will long be remembered. Thank you.
MR. TAYLOR: My Lord, on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service, may I just respectfully add a few words to endorse and support those words of remembrance already spoken about the late Recorder. I would just like to add this. My colleagues and I had many professional dealings with the late Recorder, both in open Court and in his administrative capacity, and if there was one abiding memory that we would take away, it was always that his overriding concern was to see that things were done properly and effectively, but in the interests of justice. My Lord, with respect, that is the greatest tribute perhaps in his professional capacity that could be paid.
The late Recorder was a very major, indeed a towering figure in this city. We have already heard of his many roles and attributes and I do not propose to rehearse those again. I would just say this, that we would wish to extend to Susan and to all the family in the Jewish tradition our most sincere condolences and to wish them long life.
