His Honour Robert Lymbery; Judge who caused a furore over his bailing of Winston Silcott, later accused of killing PC Keith Blakelock
Hyfler/Rosner
November 21, 2008
His Honour Robert Lymbery: circuit judge
Lymbery: his fairness was even acknowledged in a letter
written by a robber whom he jailed for 22 years
Best known for the meticulous fairness he brought to his
courtroom, Bob Lymbery was a gentleman judge in the truest
English tradition. The understated, calculated and
respectful manner in which he presided was appreciated by
all who appeared before him and encapsulated by a letter he
received from a defendant he had sentenced to 22 years'
imprisonment, thanking him for the manner in which he had
conducted the trial.
Robert Davison Lymbery was born in Nottingham in 1920. He
was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, where he excelled
both academically and on the sports field, and in 1939 he
accepted a place to read law at Pembroke College, Cambridge.
He had been there only a year when he was called up and
commissioned into the 17th/21st Lancers. His experiences of
active service in North Africa, Sicily, mainland Italy and
Greece no doubt helped to form the measured and even-handed
approach that he brought to his profession.
Demobilised with the rank of major, Lymbery returned to
Cambridge and graduated with a first in 1948. The following
year he was called to the Bar by Middle Temple and awarded a
Harmsworth Scholarship. He joined the chambers of Richard
Elwes, QC, at 10 King's Bench Walk where he shared a room
with the future Lord Chief Justice, Geoffrey Lane.
At that time the kind of specialisation which now exists at
the Bar was unheard of, so Lymbery built a broad practice on
the Midland Circuit, spanning most areas of the common law:
crime, contract, divorce, medical negligence, planning and
tort. His success was predicated on a warm personality and
an appetite for hard work, allied to a flair for spotting
the key point of a case and keeping himself, the judge and
the jury focused upon it for the duration of the trial.
Lymbery's first promotion was in 1961 when he was appointed
deputy chairman of Bedfordshire Quarter Sessions, and then
of Rutland Quarter Sessions a year later. He would later
become chairman of both of these courts. As deputy chairman
of the latter jurisdiction, he was junior counsel to
Geoffrey Lane in the "Rutland Fights to Keep Local
Government Local" campaign in June 1962, winning a seemingly
impossible victory to ensure that Rutland remained a county
in its own right.
Inevitably, working on the circuit involved a significant
amount of travelling. Lymbery would follow the assize judge
round the entire area three times a year, taking in
Aylesbury, Northampton, Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby and
Birmingham, and often Stafford and Shrewsbury as well. In
1965, after he had been appointed Recorder of Grantham,
Lymbery was driving to Lincoln when an articulated lorry
pulled out in front of him. With no chance of stopping, he
aimed to collide with its back wheels before throwing
himself horizontal in preparation for the inevitable crash,
a decision that saved his life.
In 1967 he took silk and four years later became
Commissioner of Assize. In September 1971 he was appointed
to the County Court Bench in preparation for becoming, on
New Year's Day 1972, one of a new breed of judicial beings -
a circuit judge, sitting at Bedford.
Lymbery achieved public renown after being depicted in a
Giles cartoon in the Daily Express in 1975. Magistrates in
Bedfordshire had ordered the destruction of a Great Dane,
after it had bitten a child who had disturbed it while it
lay sleeping on a sofa. When hearing the appeal of its
owners, Lymbery was told that the dog was in the building,
so resolved to visit it to see for himself if it was
dangerous. He put out his hand to stroke it, and it bit him
on the hand twice, but he spared the dog nonetheless.
In 1982 Lymbery was transferred to the Old Bailey. There he
tried Valerio Viccei, who had masterminded the £40 million
robbery of a Knightsbridge safe depository - a haul so large
that Viccei famously filled the bath in his Hampstead flat
with banknotes and covered its floor with jewels. Although
Lymbery sentenced him to 22 years imprisonment, Viccei was
so taken with the fairness of the hearing he had received
that he wrote to Lymbery to express his gratitude.
Although he was respected for the accuracy of his judgments,
in 1985 Lymbery was involved in a significant controversy.
Winston Silcott appeared before him, accused of murdering a
reputed gangster, Tony Smith. Although Silcott would later
be found guilty, Lymbery found the evidence presented by the
prosecution to be weak, so granted Silcott bail before his
trial. At that time, PC Keith Blakelock was killed during
the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham, North London, and
Silcott was subsequently one of three men imprisoned for his
murder. Although there was a public outcry, the Lord
Chancellor, Lord Hailsham, defended Lymbery's decision as
"entirely proper".
Lymbery was further vindicated in 1991 when the conviction
was overturned on appeal, and Silcott still protests against
the decision to find him guilty of the original crime,
arguing that he acted in self-defence.
In 1990 Lymbery was appointed Common Serjeant of the City of
London, the second-most-senior permanent judge of the
Central Criminal Court after the Recorder of London. His
role was as deputy to that office, and to sit as a judge in
the trial of criminal offences, as well as presiding at the
Mayor's Court and providing legal advice and counsel to the
City of London Corporation. He retired in 1993.
In 1995 Lymbery was at a livery dinner at Cutlers' Hall in
the City when he suffered a terrible accident. Using
crutches after an operation on both of his ankles, he
tripped and fell 12 feet over the railings of the grand
staircase, landing head first on a table. As soon as he had
recovered he wrote to the Cutlers, apologising for the
damage and asking to be sent a bill so that he could pay for
the necessary repairs.
Lymbery is survived by his wife, Anne, and their three
daughters.
His Honour Robert Lymbery, Circuit Judge, 1971-93, was born
on November 14, 1920. He died on October 13, 2008, aged 87