His obituary generously comments that -
One of the most colourful and controversial judges of recent times, Alan King-Hamilton repeatedly flouted the unwritten rule that members of the Bench should keep their opinions to themselves. He was a devoted advocate of the merits of corporal punishment, once declaring that the best form of psychiatric treatment was administered not to the head but to the backside. The reintroduction of National Service, he claimed, would deter youths from crime, teach them discipline and make men of them. He openly regretted the fact that he was not allowed to shame offenders by putting them in the stocks.The Times goes on to note that -
King-Hamilton was every bit as eccentric as he was outspoken. He sent flowers to a woman juror and was not above interrupting proceedings in order to announce the Test match score. At the beginning of a trial expected to last five months, he advised the jury to have flu injections.I have been advised that -
Though some found such behaviour endearing, others claimed that King-Hamilton was out of touch and prejudiced. "He is fundamentally an Old Testament judge who believes in revenge", pronounced one QC. King-Hamilton, said another barrister, "is shocked by modern morality and attitudes and he equates them with a form of criminality". ...
In 1977 Gay News and its editor, Denis Lemon, were charged with blasphemous libel after publishing 'The Love that Dares to Speak its Name', a poem by Professor James Kirkup about a homosexual centurion’s fantasies as he contemplates the body of the crucified Christ. The first case of its kind for more than 50 years, the prosecution had originally been brought by Mary Whitehouse, secretary of the National Viewers' & Listeners' Association, but then taken over by the Crown.
King-Hamilton refused to allow testimony on the literary, sociological and theological merits of the work. As a result, such experts as the writer Margaret Drabble and The Times columnist Bernard Levin were only able to appear as "character" witnesses for the content of the paper in general. (This was in striking contrast to the 1960 prosecution for obscenity of D. H. Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterly's Lover, in which a host of distinguished people were allowed to speak at length in the book's defence, on literary and moral grounds.)
When the jury delivered a majority verdict of guilty, King-Hamilton could barely contain his delight. Having praised the jury’s moral courage, he expressed the hope that "the pendulum of public opinion is beginning to swing back to a more healthy climate". He then fined Gay News £1,000 and gave Lemon a suspended prison sentence of nine months and a £500 fine. Although the suspended jail sentence was later quashed, both the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords upheld the other verdicts.
contrary to what the Times suggested, he did not send flowers to a female juror, he merely presented his nosegay (given to all Old Bailey Judges on the first day of each legal term in a nod to the history of the Court standing close to the stench of the old Newgate Gaol) to the only female juror on a long-running trial.The Guardian's obituary is here.
