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Nigel Sweeney

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The Honourable
Mr Justice Sweeney
Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
High Court Judge
(King's Bench Division)
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 October 2008
MonarchsElizabeth II
Charles III
Personal details
Born (1954-03-18) 18 March 1954 (age 70)
United Kingdom
Alma materUniversity of Nottingham

Sir Nigel Hamilton Sweeney KC (born 18 March 1954), styled The Hon. Mr Justice Sweeney, is a former High Court judge. He retired on 18 March 2023.

Biography

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Sweeney studied law at the University of Nottingham[1] under Sir John Cyril Smith. He was called to the bar in 1976 at the Middle Temple, where he was made a bencher in 1997, that same year he was appointed First Senior Prosecuting Counsel to the Crown, and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2000.[2] He was appointed to the High Court (Queen's Bench) in September 2008.[3][4]

Prior to being appointed a High Court judge, Sweeney was a barrister in the United Kingdom, practising from 6 King's Bench Walk and specialising in terrorism, official secrets, murder and major health and safety trials. He prosecuted a number of notable criminal trials, including the perpetrators of the 1984 IRA Brighton bombing and the attempted bombings of 21 July 2005,[5][6] Neo-Nazi terrorist David Copeland[7] and murderers Michael Stone[8] and Kamel Bourgass.[9]

Sweeney was appointed Presiding Judge of the South Eastern CIrcuit in 2012, and the Judge in Charge of the Terrorism List in 2013. He was also the Judge responsible for European Liaison in relation to criminal law issues, and was a member of the Judges’ Council.[10]

He presided over the trial in February and March 2013 of former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne MP and his former wife, Vicky Pryce, for perverting the course of justice contrary to common law.[11][12] He sentenced another MP Denis MacShane for fraud in the aftermath of the 2009 parliamentary expenses scandal.[13]

He presided over and was sentencing judge in high-profile cases involving terrorists and extremists, such as the two men responsible for the murder of Lee Rigby in 2013,[14][15] the man convicted of the murder of MP David Amess[16][17] and White supremacist bomber Pavlo Lapshyn[18]

He was also involved in numerous other high profile cases. He was the presiding judge in the trial of Rolf Harris for various counts of indecent assault dating back to the 1960s.[19][20] He was the sentencing judge for the murder of Sabina Nessa, sentencing Koci Selemaj to a minimum of 36 years in prison.[21] He was also the presiding judge in the Essex lorry deaths trials where 39 Vietnamese people were killed in the back of a lorry; four perpetrators received a combined 92 years in prison.[22]

Sweeney is also an Associate Professor at the School of Law at Nottingham University.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "High Court judge goes back to university". Nottingham Post. 23 January 2009.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Masters of the Bench: The Hon Mr Justice Nigel Sweeney". middletemple.org.uk.
  3. ^ Rozenberg, Joshua (14 September 2008). "Two women among five new High Court judges". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  4. ^ "Five silks appointed to bench; two female". The Lawyer. 11 September 2008.
  5. ^ "21 July trial legal figures". BBC. 1 February 2007.
  6. ^ "Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2007-2008: Inspiring Confidence in the Communities We Serve". Crown Prosecution Service. 15 July 2008. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  7. ^ "Bomber gets six life terms". The Guardian. 1 July 2000.
  8. ^ "Doctor tells of finding Josie alive". BBC. 13 September 2001.
  9. ^ "Detective murdered in bungled raid". The Guardian. 13 April 2005.
  10. ^ a b "Sir Nigel Sweeney - University of Nottingham Profile".
  11. ^ "Chris Huhne admits perverting the course of justice". BBC News. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  12. ^ "British ex-minister jailed for obstructing justice". AP NEWS. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  13. ^ "Denis MacShane jailed for MP expenses fraud". BBC. 23 December 2013.
  14. ^ "R -v- Michael Adebolajo & Michael Adebowale". www.judiciary.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  15. ^ "Lee Rigby murder: Adebolajo and Adebowale jailed". BBC News. BBC. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  16. ^ "Sir David Amess murder: Ali Harbi Ali given whole life order". BBC News. 13 April 2022.
  17. ^ "R -v- Ali Harbi Ali: Sentencing remarks". www.judiciary.uk. 13 April 2022.
  18. ^ "Pavlo Lapshyn jailed for 40 years for murder and mosque bombs". The Guardian. 25 October 2013.
  19. ^ "Courts and Tribunals Judiciary — Judgements: R v Rolf Harris". Judiciary of England and Wales. 4 July 2014.
  20. ^ "Justice must always be seen to be done". The Sunday Times. 15 February 2015. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015.
  21. ^ Kirka, Danica (8 April 2022). "UK teacher's killer gets at least 36 years behind bars". Associated Press. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  22. ^ "UPDATE 1-Lengthy jail terms given to men involved in Vietnamese truck deaths". Reuters. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
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