Gerald Butler

His Honour Gerald Norman Butler, QC (15 September 1930 – 28 February 2010) was an English judge, who was the senior judge at Southwark Crown Court. He was born in Hackney, London. 2Family Butler was the son of Joshua Butler and Esther, née Lampel. 2Education Butler attended Ilford County High School before reading Law at London School of Economics, graduating with an LLB in 1952. Following this, he was awarded a BCL from Magdalen College, Oxford in 1954. 2Career Butler was called to the bar in the Middle Temple, 1955. His career was interrupted by National Service; he was a 2nd lieutenant in the Royal Army Service Corps, 1956-57. He became a QC in 1975. He was a Recorder of the Crown Court, 1977–82, a Circuit Judge, 1982–97, and senior judge at Southwark Crown Court, 1984-97. After his retirement, he was invited to conduct inquiries and produce reports into: the English Rugby Football Union, 1997 Central Casework at the Crown Prosecution Service, 1999 prosecution of Regina v Doran and others, 2000 Treasury Counsel instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service, 2000 The 1981 New Cross fire that killed 13 black youngsters, 2004 2Controversy In August 2005, he made controversial remarks that human rights laws stood in the way of attempts to crack down on terrorists, because after the terrorist attacks on London in July, Britain was no longer in a "normal" state where human rights legislation was always beneficia