Sir Alan Fraser Wilkie (born 26 December 1947), styled The Honourable Mr Justice Wilkie, is a former British judge and barrister. He retired on 31 January 2017.[1]

Sir Alan Wilkie
Justice of the High Court
Assumed office
1 October 2004
Circuit Judge
In office
9 April 1997 – 1 October 2004
Personal details
Born
Alan Fraser Wilkie

(1947-12-26) 26 December 1947 (age 76)
EducationHutchesons' Grammar School
Manchester Grammar School
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford

Early life

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Wilkie was born on 26 December 1947. He was educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School, a private school in Glasgow, Scotland, and Manchester Grammar School, an all-boys independent school in Manchester, England.[2] He studied law at Balliol College, Oxford.[3]

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Wilkie was called to the bar at Inner Temple in 1974. He was made a Queen's Counsel (QC) on 28 April 1992.[4] On 27 January 1995, he was appointed to the South Eastern Circuit as a Recorder, a part-time judge.[5]

Wilkie became a full-time judge in 1997. On 9 April, he was appointed a circuit judge.[3][6] He was a judge of the High Court of Justice (Queen's Bench Division) from 1 October 2004[7] until 2017. He was a Presiding Judge of the North Eastern Circuit from 2007 to 2010.[8] On 1 April 2012, he was appointed to the Judicial Appointments Commission for a five-year period.[9]

Notable cases that Wilkie presided over include the trial of Lord Ahmed for causing death by dangerous driving,[10] the Milly Dowler murder trial, the trial of Bishop Peter Ball for sexual abuse,[11] and the trial of Thomas Mair for the murder of Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox.[12] Wilkie sentenced John Darwin and his wife, Anne, in 2008 for faking his own death in a canoe accident.

He concluded that the London Bridge Terrorist Usman Kahn was so dangerous "that the public could only be protected by the imposition of an indeterminate sentence". This conclusion was overturned by the Court of Appeal under Lord Leveson with the result that Kahn was let out on licence and stabbed two people to death in November 2019.[13]

Personal life

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Wilkie married Susan in 1972.[2]

Honours

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Wilkie was made a Knight Bachelor upon becoming a High Court Judge in 2004. He is an Honorary Member of The Society of Legal Scholars.[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/announcements/high-court-retirement-of-the-honourable-sir-alan-fraser-wilkie/[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ a b ‘WILKIE, Hon. Sir Alan (Fraser)’, Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014
  3. ^ a b "Profile: Mr Justice Wilkie". The Daily Mirror. 27 January 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  4. ^ "No. 52909". The London Gazette. 1 May 1992. pp. 7629–7630.
  5. ^ "No. 53942". The London Gazette. 1 February 1995. p. 1439.
  6. ^ "No. 54736". The London Gazette. 15 April 1997. p. 4475.
  7. ^ Denyer, C I P (11 October 2004). "Crown Office". The London Gazette. No. 57433. p. 12786.
  8. ^ "Mr Justice Wilkie (judicial)". Judicial Appointments Commission. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  9. ^ G A, Bavister (9 August 2012). "Warrants Under the Royal Sign Manual". The London Gazette. No. 60234. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Muslim peer Lord Ahmed blames Jewish conspiracy for jailing him". The Times. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  11. ^ Holden, Michael (7 October 2015). "Former UK bishop jailed for sexual abuse of young men". Reuters.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Man guilty of murdering MP Jo Cox". BBC News. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  13. ^ Court of Appeal Judgement
  14. ^ "Honorary Members". The Society of Legal Scholars. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2015.