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Sebag Shaw

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The Right Honourable
Sir Sebag Shaw
Lord Justice of Appeal
In office
30 September 1975 – 27 December 1981
Justice of the High Court
In office
29 March 1968 – 30 September 1975

Sir Sebag Shaw, PC (28 December 1906 – 27 December 1982)[1] was a British barrister and judge.

Early life and career

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Sebag Sochaczewski (later Shaw) was born in East London to Chaim Sochaczewski (later naturalised as 'Henry Shaw'; of Polish origin), owner of a photographic studio, and Marie (née Baumgart), and educated at Central Foundation Boys' School and University College London (LL.B). In his youth he had suffered a severe attack of polio, which left him with a pronounced limp, nevertheless becoming a skilled swimmer, rower and horseman. He was called 'Sib' by family and friends.[2] In 1928, he married Sally, daughter of Oscar Baumgart.[3] He was called to the Bar from Gray's Inn in 1931, appointed Q.C. in 1967, and Bencher of Gray's Inn that same year, being later Leader of the South Eastern Circuit.[1] Shaw served from 1958 to 1968 as Honorary Recorder of Ipswich, succeeding Sir Stephen Gerald Howard, QC, MP (1947–1958). Shaw was succeeded by the Hon. William McLaren Howard, QC.

In 1955 Shaw was junior counsel to Aubrey Melford Stevenson for the defence in the trial of Ruth Ellis; she was the last woman hanged in the United Kingdom.[4][5][6]

In 1967, Shaw acting as prosecuting counsel for the Crown, secured a high profile conviction against gangster Charlie Richardson who was jailed for twenty-five years.[7]

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Knighted in 1968, Shaw was appointed a High Court judge and promoted to be a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1975; he served in this capacity until his retirement in 1981. He chaired the Justice Annual members conference in 1973. Shaw was a Member of the Bar Council from 1964 to 1968, and of the Parole Board from 1971 to 1974 (Vice-Chairman 1973–4).[1]

Acting as a circuit judge, Shaw notably presided over the Winchester Crown Court trial of the 1972 Aldershot bombers, sentencing Noel Jenkinson to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of thirty-years.[8][9]

Along with Judge Dennis Smith, Shaw wrote the text The Law of Meetings, which went through five editions over thirty years.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History, W. Rubinstein and Michael A. Jolles, 2011
  2. ^ Graya: A Magazine for Members of Gray's Inn, issue 84, 1986, 'In Memoriam Master Sir Sebag Shaw, by Master Sir William Mars-Jones', pg 24
  3. ^ Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 1980, ed. Patrick Montague-Smith, pg 294
  4. ^ Campbell, Duncan (12 March 2018). "Ruth Ellis: the murder case we can't forget". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Lucy Boynton to star as Ruth Ellis in new ITV drama about last person to be hanged in Britain". Royal Television Society. 13 June 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Ruth Ellis: The model who smiled at her executioner". The Irish Times. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  7. ^ Campbell, Duncan (20 September 2012). "Charlie Richardson obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  8. ^ Healy, Mick (11 December 2022). "Wrongful imprisonment of an Irish communist". Socialist Voice. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  9. ^ "The Aldershot Bombing 1972 • The Parachute Regimental Association". The Parachute Regimental Association. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Manual on the law of meetings : their conduct and procedure / by Sebag Shaw and H.A.R.J. Wilson - Catalogue | National Library of Australia". catalogue.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 18 December 2023.


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