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George Carman
George Alfred Carman, QC (6 October 1929 – 2 January 2001) was an English leading barrister during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1979, he successfully defended the former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe after he was charged with conspiracy to murder. Carman had been appointed as a Queen's Counsel (QC) eight years previously. He later appeared in a series of widely publicised criminal cases and libel cases.
Carman was born in Blackpool, the son of Alfred George Carman and Evelyn (née Moylan) Carman. His father, a former soldier and auctioneer, briefly owned a furniture business, and his mother, the family's main breadwinner, owned a dress shop.
His parents met in Ireland; his mother was the daughter of a Waterford cattle dealer, Michael Moylan. Irish hurling player Christy Moylan was an uncle. George attended St Joseph's College in Blackpool, run by Christian Brothers from Ireland, and a Roman Catholic seminary, St Joseph's College, Upholland, where he trained to be a priest.
Despite being 5 feet 3 inches tall, Carman fulfilled his National Service duty in the British Army. In 1949, he went on to read law at Balliol College, Oxford. While at Oxford, he first met his future client Jeremy Thorpe, when Thorpe (then President of the Oxford Union) invited Carman to be a main speaker in a debate. Carman graduated in 1952 with a first-class honours degree in jurisprudence.
Carman was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1953, after passing his bar finals in May of that year with a third class degree. He was a pupil barrister at the chambers of Neil Lawson at 1 Harcourt Buildings and then practised as a barrister on the Northern Circuit in Manchester, based at the chambers of Godfrey Heilper QC at 60 King Street, later 47 Peter Street, doing mostly criminal and personal injury work.
Carman was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1971, and moved to Byrom Street Chambers, with a London seat at 5 Essex Court in the Temple. A year later, he was appointed as a recorder, a part-time judicial role. He resigned as a recorder in 1984.
Carman defended the manager of Battersea Fun Fair in 1973, when the manager was accused of manslaughter after the big dipper ride malfunctioned in May 1972, resulting in the deaths of five children. This case brought him to the attention of the London solicitor David Napley, who instructed him to represent Jeremy Thorpe, the former Leader of the Liberal Party. In 1979, after successfully defending Thorpe, who was charged with three other men with conspiracy to murder Norman Scott in a case which became the cause célèbre of the decade, he became involved in several significant criminal trials during the 1980s. He practised exclusively from London chambers after June 1980.
In 1981, Carman defended Leonard Arthur, a consultant paediatrician, which he would later see as his proudest moment. He later said of Arthur, who had been accused of murdering a Down's syndrome baby: "He was a very dedicated doctor and clearly a kind and moral man who had done much good for thousands of mothers in this country – hundreds of whom wrote to him and sent flowers during the trial. His acquittal by the jury, very quickly, is the moment in my career which has given me the greatest pleasure". In 1981, Carman accepted an appointment to the High Court in Hong Kong, but later declined it, preferring to argue cases in court.
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George Carman
George Alfred Carman, QC (6 October 1929 – 2 January 2001) was an English leading barrister during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1979, he successfully defended the former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe after he was charged with conspiracy to murder. Carman had been appointed as a Queen's Counsel (QC) eight years previously. He later appeared in a series of widely publicised criminal cases and libel cases.
Carman was born in Blackpool, the son of Alfred George Carman and Evelyn (née Moylan) Carman. His father, a former soldier and auctioneer, briefly owned a furniture business, and his mother, the family's main breadwinner, owned a dress shop.
His parents met in Ireland; his mother was the daughter of a Waterford cattle dealer, Michael Moylan. Irish hurling player Christy Moylan was an uncle. George attended St Joseph's College in Blackpool, run by Christian Brothers from Ireland, and a Roman Catholic seminary, St Joseph's College, Upholland, where he trained to be a priest.
Despite being 5 feet 3 inches tall, Carman fulfilled his National Service duty in the British Army. In 1949, he went on to read law at Balliol College, Oxford. While at Oxford, he first met his future client Jeremy Thorpe, when Thorpe (then President of the Oxford Union) invited Carman to be a main speaker in a debate. Carman graduated in 1952 with a first-class honours degree in jurisprudence.
Carman was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1953, after passing his bar finals in May of that year with a third class degree. He was a pupil barrister at the chambers of Neil Lawson at 1 Harcourt Buildings and then practised as a barrister on the Northern Circuit in Manchester, based at the chambers of Godfrey Heilper QC at 60 King Street, later 47 Peter Street, doing mostly criminal and personal injury work.
Carman was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1971, and moved to Byrom Street Chambers, with a London seat at 5 Essex Court in the Temple. A year later, he was appointed as a recorder, a part-time judicial role. He resigned as a recorder in 1984.
Carman defended the manager of Battersea Fun Fair in 1973, when the manager was accused of manslaughter after the big dipper ride malfunctioned in May 1972, resulting in the deaths of five children. This case brought him to the attention of the London solicitor David Napley, who instructed him to represent Jeremy Thorpe, the former Leader of the Liberal Party. In 1979, after successfully defending Thorpe, who was charged with three other men with conspiracy to murder Norman Scott in a case which became the cause célèbre of the decade, he became involved in several significant criminal trials during the 1980s. He practised exclusively from London chambers after June 1980.
In 1981, Carman defended Leonard Arthur, a consultant paediatrician, which he would later see as his proudest moment. He later said of Arthur, who had been accused of murdering a Down's syndrome baby: "He was a very dedicated doctor and clearly a kind and moral man who had done much good for thousands of mothers in this country – hundreds of whom wrote to him and sent flowers during the trial. His acquittal by the jury, very quickly, is the moment in my career which has given me the greatest pleasure". In 1981, Carman accepted an appointment to the High Court in Hong Kong, but later declined it, preferring to argue cases in court.