Stephen Ward Was Innocent, OK: The Case for Overturning his Conviction

Description

Geoffrey Robertson brings his forensic skills and a deeply felt sense of injustice to the case at the heart of the Profumo affair, the notorious scandal that brought down a government. In the summer of '61 John Profumo, Minister for War, enjoyed a brief affair with Christine Keeler...Late in the afternoon of Wednesday 31 July 1963, Dr Stephen Ward was convicted at the Old Bailey on two counts alleging that he lived on the earnings of a prostitute. He was not in the dock but comatose in hospital. The previous night he had attempted suicide, because (as he said in a note) 'after Marshall's [the judge's] summing up, I've given up all hope'. He died on Saturday 3 August, without regaining consciousness. Many observers of the proceedings thought the convictions did not reflect the evidence and that the trial was unfair, and this book will show that it breached basic standards of justice. Geoffrey Robertson brings his forensic skills and a deeply felt sense of injustice to the case at the heart of the Profumo affair, the notorious scandal that brought down a government. Reviewed here in The Sydney Morning Herald

Geoffrey Robertson QC has had a distinguished career as a trial counsel, human rights advocate and United Nations judge. He appeared in many celebrated Old Bailey trials, defending the editors of Oz magazine and Gay News, as well as the National Theatre over its staging of The Romans in Britain, and Matrix Churchill in the case that exposed the 'Iraqgate' scandal and helped to bring down John Major's government. He served as first president of the UN war crimes court in Sierra Leone and on the UN Justice Council (2008 - 12). Mr Robertson is founder and co-head of Doughty Street Chambers. He held the office of Recorder (part-time judge) for many years and is a Master of the Middle Temple. His books include The Tyrannicide Brief (the story of how Cromwell's lawyers mounted the trial of Charles I), and an acclaimed memoir, The Justice Game. In 2011 he received the Award for Distinction in International Law and Affairs from the New York State Bar Association.

"GR floods a dark corner of legal history with brilliant light, exposing the lengths to which the Establishment would go to protect the old order and to cover for their own. A stunning expose." Helena Kennedy QC "Stephen Ward was a scapegoat and a victim both of calumny and a miscarriage of justice, which together drove him to suicide. In this compelling account, beautifully written and argued, Robertson rescues Ward's reputation from the lies and legal distortions that condemned him." A.C.Grayling "I could not sleep for excitement after reading it at one sitting. Stephen Ward Was Innocent, OK is written with punchiness, gusto, incisive forensic analysis, and deadly gallows humour befitting its subject. Anyone who wants a thumping, indignant read as an antidote to Yuletide complacence should be given this polemic in their Christmas stocking." Richard Davenport-Hines, The Guardian '[This] book makes a passionate case for a posthumous pardon.' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times Culture 'Robertson concentrates with clarity and vigour on the legal shortcomings of the case - ' The Times "It is essentially a legal opinion and it shows Robertson at his most polished and considered, without exaggeration." The Sunday Morning Herald "The most elegantly written application ever to have been sent to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) [ - ]The book presents a compelling case for overturning the guilty verdict." Duncan Campbell, The Guardian "Brick by brick, Robinson builds up an unassailable case. This is no dry as dust legal document: It has dramatic pace, atmosphere and tragedy." West End Extra "[A] compelling case for appeal." Sydney Review of Books