![]() ![]() After pupillage under Martin Jukes, he joined a set of chambers specializing in personal injury cases, before joining John Widgery's chambers at 3 Temple Gardens in 1950, where he specialized in local government and planning law.įrom 1964 to 1968, he was Junior Counsel to the Treasury (Common Law), commonly known as Treasury Devil. He was the last Treasury Devil to try a case from private practice while in office. He was made a bencher at Inner Temple in 1964, Reader in 1985 and Treasurer in 1986.īy tradition Treasury Devils were appointed to the High Court after their term, and after four years as Treasury Devil Bridge was appointed a Justice of the High Court of Justice in 1968, receiving the customary knighthood. Assigned to the Queen's Bench Division, he was presiding Judge of the Western Circuit from 1972–74. In 1975, Bridge was the presiding judge at the trial of the Birmingham Six, who were accused of bombings in Birmingham in November 1974. It was his last case before he joined the Court of Appeal. The trial was marred by Bridge's health: at various points it was interrupted to allow him to see a dentist, for treatment for acute gastritis, and for lunchtime naps on his doctor's orders. He lost his voice during the summing up, which was criticised as being biased against the defendants. He also admitted into evidence the defendants' confessions, despite the defence arguing that they were beaten out of them. During sentencing, he said that there was "the clearest and most overwhelming evidence I have ever heard in a case of murder". ![]() The convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal in 1991, after the defendants had served 16 years in prison.Īs a result of the trial, Bridge was added to the IRA's hit-list, and his house came under constant police protection. In a 1992 interview, Bridge said that he felt "unhappy", but not "guilty", about what had happened at the trial.
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