Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Eminent judge, Bar Council chair, Court of Appeal, led 7/7 inquest; now peer and Novichok inquest coroner.
On the island
Eight records
CarolineFavourite
My boys are my proudest achievement and I love them to bits, so I wanted to play a song that I used to play to them probably too loudly in the car when the three of us were together.
Disc number two is to remind me of my wonderful mother. She was bright, fun. Plucky, selfless, and she was the kind, the generation when whatever life threw at you, and she had a tough life at times, she just got on with it. And she loved musicals, and one of her favorites is now watched by my four adorable grandchildren, and it's Sound of Music and Climb Every Mountain.
Tony Hancock and Kenneth Williams
I would like to remind me of my father. Kenneth Williams knocking on the window of a cockpit in the Test Pilot sketch in Hancock's Hatha.
This is to remind me of my big brother, who sadly died a couple of years ago. ... He introduced me to pop music and ... we independently both grew to love Genesis. So although I'm delighted to say I've got my nephews and my niece and my sister in law to remind me of him, this is to remind me of him.
My girlfriends have been important to me throughout my adult life, ever since university, and they have been there for me, supporting me in bad times. They provide a spark, and so this one is a song I consider to be a triumph of woman power or female power, and it's simply the best by Tina Turner.
I Heard It Through the Grapevine
I must have something to remind me of Oxford, and every week most of the college would gather in the junior common room to watch Top of the Pops on a pretty small T V in the corner. ... Anyway, very much top of the pops for me at that time was Marvin Gaye, Heard It Through the Grapevine.
Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
Disc number seven is to remind me of another place that's been so important to me, and that's the temple. The temple has provided me with a professional and personal home and is very special. The Temple Church extraordinary church is at its heart and has been the scene of for me many happy and many very sad events. So I would like something sung by the amazing Temple Church Choir.
Well this is one to remind me of Nigel. He was the one who persuaded me to apply to become a QC before he did. ... He said, 'Well, you can never go wrong with Puccini,' so I thought that's okay. Mind you, he also suggested Teddy Bear's Picnic. So your listeners should consider themselves lucky.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:20Where does your tenacity come from?
Probably from my parents, who both came from modest backgrounds and taught me to aspire. My parents thought that I could do anything a man could do, and they were nearly right.
Presenter asks
2:31When you're faced with an enormous task like the Novichok inquest, how do you ensure you don't lose sight of the human being at the heart of it?
People want to think that the coroner is remembering that they were a person. In seven seven, there were fifty two victims and I could see how if you weren't careful that you'd get swept along in examining sis possible systemic failings and that kind of thing, but without remembering that there were fifty two individuals, fifty two families and sets of friends had lost a loved one. And so I was always very keen in that case and I'm determined in this case to focus on the individuals who are at the heart of the investigation.
Presenter asks
5:35Why do you believe wigs still serve a purpose in court?
When I used to do cases involving alleged sex abuse of children to try and make the child feel more at ease with the proceedings. ... I think that had I been wearing a wig, they wouldn't have seen me as a person, they'd have seen me as an advocate just doing my job.
The keepsakes
The book
Collected Works of Colin Dexter
Colin Dexter
If you could gather them together, please, I'd like the collected works of Colin Dexter. Colin Dexter's books, as you know, are mostly based in Oxford, so that's perfect. And it will remind me of many happy hours watching television series like Morse, Lewis, and Endeavour, all based on Dexter characters with Nigel in front of the fire and with our beloved dog Ruby.
The luxury
Solar powered iPad with card games and family photos
A solar powered iPad preloaded with an endless supply of card games. And I might even, when you're not looking, slip a photo of my family on the home screen.
Presenter asks
17:51What were you dealing with as a young female barrister?
There were things like there was the judge ... He decided that he was responsible for my getting that appointment, and he made it perfectly plain how I could thank him. um physically, sexually, which I was very distressed about. ... I wish now I had protested more, but you just didn't I mean I when I look back on some of the things that happened to me. And people say, well, why didn't you do something? And all I can say is that we were just terrified it would affect our career.
Presenter asks
25:19Talk me through the mindset required for the 7/7 inquest. How do you get your head in the right place?
Well, I suppose the first task I felt was to gain the trust of everyone. ... So I tried to gain their trust. ... You have to analyse the evidence. And it's only once you analyse the evidence that you can reach a sensible and reasoned and fair judgment.
Presenter asks
26:31Why was it so important for you to speak to each witness after they gave evidence at the 7/7 inquest?
It it just happened. It just came naturally. I defy anybody to sit and listen to the stories that I heard. And not have to say something at the end of it. ... I mean, the stories, the courage and dignity of the bereaved, the courage and determination of some of the survivors. ... And it just takes you over. ... saying something also helped control the emotion.
“Probably from my parents, who both came from modest backgrounds and taught me to aspire. My parents thought that I could do anything a man could do, and they were nearly right.”
“I think that had I been wearing a wig, they wouldn't have seen me as a person, they'd have seen me as an advocate just doing my job.”
“I wish now I had protested more, but you just didn't I mean I when I look back on some of the things that happened to me. And people say, well, why didn't you do something? And all I can say is that we were just terrified it would affect our career.”
“I defy anybody to sit and listen to the stories that I heard. And not have to say something at the end of it.”
“No, it was a trick taught to me by a judge who was also ordained, and he said that if ever you're doing a difficult funeral service or memorial service, you stick your nails into the palms of your hand and cause pain. ... And on one occasion I came out of a seven seven hearing and my palm was bleeding.”