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- Herausgeber: Biteback Publishing
- Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
- Sprache: Englisch
George Carman QC was, and perhaps still is, Britain's most famous lawyer within living memory. Equally feared and respected, he made his name as an erudite and incisive advocate largely in the field of libel. Coming to prominence with his superb defence of disgraced former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe on a charge of conspiracy to murder, Carman subsequently defended many well-known faces from the worlds of entertainment, sport, politics and business, including Ken Dodd, Richard Branson and Elton John. Away from court, Carman was a complex and private yet not unsociable man. In 1986, he met barrister Karen Phillipps and, although she turned down his immediate marriage proposal, the two would have a close platonic relationship for the rest of Carman's life. Carman intended to write his memoirs but became too ill to complete the book and died in 2001. Using his papers, press cuttings and court transcripts – along with the testimonies of some of those who saw him in action and her own extensive memories of her close friend –Phillipps presents a portrait of this eminent advocate through the cases that made him famous. All the drama of the courtroom world that Carman belonged to is here, along with some of the best and most entertaining theatre the English justice system has ever seen.
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For George
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‘George Carman QC, the most feared and admired barrister of the age, surprised legal colleagues by announcing that he had made his last appearance in court.’
The Times,30 August 2000
‘George Carman was both the best-liked and most feared advocate at the English Bar. He was also the best known. In any looming libel battle, the side that was first to pay George a comfortable retainer had an incalculable advantage … His retirement means that the age of the great advocate is over. Many barristers are clever, some are skilful and a few are good-looking. But there are now none left who can fill the public gallery on star quality alone.’
Joshua Rozenberg, Daily Telegraph, 30 August 2000
‘I, George Alfred Carman QC, want you, the reader of this book, to know that putting pen to paper for myself has been cathartic. Along with the account of my life’s journey up till now, I have written this chapter in the knowledge that my life expectancy has been shortened due to cancer.’
George Carman QC, summer 2000vi
Contents
Introduction
George Carman QC was, and perhaps still is, the most famous British lawyer within living memory. Equally feared and respected, he made his name as an erudite and incisive advocate largely in the field of libel. In the 1980s and 1990s, no high-profile libel case was complete without the diminutive QC whose ability to wipe the courtroom floor with the high and mighty, often with a smart turn of phrase that guaranteed headlines in the following day’s newspapers, was unmatched.
Following a spell working in the north-west, Carman moved to London, coming to prominence with his superb defence of disgraced former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe on a charge of conspiracy to murder. The odds seemed stacked against Thorpe, but he was acquitted – and George Carman was on his way.
In subsequent years, he rubbed shoulders with many well-known faces from the worlds of entertainment, sport, politics and business, among others. Many of these were the beneficiaries of his superb advocacy; others, however, would never forget the bruising they received under his forensic cross-examination. Those who won the day include Ken Dodd, Richard Branson and Elton John. xBut the likes of Jonathan Aitken, Neil Hamilton, Ian Botham and Gillian Taylforth were among those who succumbed to ‘Killer Carman’.
George was commissioned to write his memoirs from the time he was forced to retire in August 2000 due to his advancing prostate cancer. He was offered a publishing contract for the manuscript and, knowing he was unwell, began to put his cases into categories, along with a personal chapter of reminiscences from his early years. However, he became too ill to complete the book and died on 2 January 2001.
Although George fully intended to complete his autobiography, I do wonder whether, had he lived, he would actually have managed to finish it. This isn’t because he was indolent or easily bored – in fact, quite the opposite. George was a workaholic who tied himself up for weeks and months on end with court cases, and while his intentions towards the writing of his autobiography were good, my opinion is that he simply wouldn’t have had the time.
I became George’s confidante and he talked to me many times about the way he would like his memoir to flow and what he intended to include. And he certainly didn’t plan that I – or anyone else – should write it for him. That said, he did leave me his papers in his will, so perhaps he was dropping a posthumous hint. We will never know.
Either way, George was a driven man who was dedicated almost wholly to his work. He wasn’t much interested in having hobbies, and unlike a lot of lawyers, he didn’t play competitive sports. If I invited him to the theatre or an exhibition, he’d happily come along, yet he was equally happy not to bother if he needed to work. He wasn’t an unsociable person by any means; he enjoyed meeting people and chatting, though the conversation was almost invariably xiabout the law. George had a few good friends, but on the whole, they tended to be lawyers he was working with.
So work was intrinsic to him. He didn’t know what to do when he wasn’t working. If he hadn’t had the health issue which finally killed him, he’d have worked until his life ended. He wouldn’t have retired; he couldn’t have occupied his time in a meaningful way. When he was in the middle of a case, he would talk of nothing else, always pondering and picking his various arguments while trying to think what his opponents might say or do next. And every time a case ended – even if it was a high-profile one that had gone in his favour – he would experience a real dip in confidence, thinking that he might never work again. In a way, he was more like an actor than a lawyer, terrified of the dreaded ‘resting’ period that sometimes comes even after a successful show. As soon as he was hired for another case, he was back on cloud nine.
This is why I’ve decided to write a book predominantly about George’s work – because his work washis life. We could spend time dipping into the whys and wherefores of George’s day-to-day personal life, but inevitably, this would still bring us back to the subject of his work. Had he managed to finish his autobiography, there’s no doubt that it would have contained a certain amount of personal reflection and, in fact, those chapters written by George shortly before he died do exactly that. He delves into his past with surprising candour, insight and a great deal of brutal honesty about himself:
I am a complex person, a driven person and at times an arrogant person. I totally lived for my career and was in control, which I needed. At times, it was a very lonely place, unless you had people of similar thought processes around you. I now realise it xiiwas hard for others to understand me regarding my professionalism. I realised I was living my mother’s wishes as ‘the prodigal son’. My mother always sought to do her best. She was at times very judgemental of people who were not of the same thought process. Her drive and standards helped me on my journey. I realised I had her traits not my own. I have been guilty of being in judgement of those around me and again that core footprint of my mother was repeated on those occasions.
It is sad that George didn’t live to write any more of his story, as it would have been fascinating to have read his thoughts about the cases he worked on and the ways in which he conducted those cases. However, we at least get a tantalising glimpse of the man beneath the barrister’s gown in these brief reflections, a sketch of a person with outward charm, confidence, wit and intellect, as well as a soul that, while not quite ‘tortured’, comes some way to meeting that description. As he said, it’s all rather complex.
Because of the Jeremy Thorpe case and various other high-profile trials, George’s reputation preceded him, so, like most lawyers working in London in the mid-’80s, I had heard about him a while before I met him. Having qualified as a barrister, I was offered a pupillage in 13 Old Square, Lincoln’s Inn, the chambers of Charles Sparrow QC, a bencher of Gray’s Inn, my chosen inn of court. It was a fascinating time, and I would often walk back from court at lunchtime to chambers with my pupil master, Patrick Talbot QC. These Chancery chambers were unusual in that many of the tenants were in the High Court or Privy Council regularly, often making new law with intricate cases. Elizabeth Appleby QC was the only female QC and there was one other female tenant, Beverley Briggs, now Lady Briggs KC. I was one of only two female pupils, the other xiiibeing a woman called Belinda. My pupil master had never worked with a female pupil before and joked he would never have a male pupil again!
I left these Chancery chambers to seek experience in common law. I was now receiving my own criminal work and had not ventured into a criminal court before. I undertook six months’ pupillage in the chambers of Margaret Puxon QC, an eminent doctor. I was then invited to spend a few months at 4 King’s Bench Walk with Michael Latham. He was amused that I never did spend time with him, as I was either doing my own work or acting as pupil to another tenant. I then applied for a tenancy in 2 King’s Bench Walk, the chambers of Lord Campbell of Alloway.
One of my fellow tenants, George Papageorgis, was friends with George Carman. Papageorgis said he had told him about me and that Carman would love to meet me. The two Georges hatched a plan and eventually I met them both in Daly’s Wine Bar in 1986. I thought I was going for a drink with my colleague, but George Carman was already there with him. I grinned at seeing the ‘Silver Fox’, as the press dubbed him, in the days before he was renamed ‘Gorgeous George’.
I was aware that Papageorgis was trying to set me up romantically with Carman, but at that time, I had a boyfriend. Nevertheless, we hit it off, and when Papageorgis got up to leave, Carman persuaded me to stay and continue the conversation. So I did, later accepting an invitation to lunch. I can’t say I approved of George’s chain-smoking, especially in the confines of his car, but I liked his warmth and found him entertaining. He wasn’t remotely pompous, but he was immensely clever, amusing and genuinely interested in people. In that sense, he wasn’t a typical barrister! And he communicated extremely well. That, I think, was his greatest asset: he was xivable to mesmerise anyone he was talking to and had a wonderful command of the English language. He focused on you as a person, as he did with juries, and from that moment, you were under his spell.
During the lunch, he asked about my relationship, and I said I hoped to be married to my then boyfriend ‘one day’. At the time, he was separated from his wife. George assured me he would never fully leave her. Despite the charm, however, I wasn’t romantically interested in George.
‘I love my boyfriend and I’m prepared to wait and see,’ I said.
‘You’re wrong,’ George insisted. ‘You should marry me.’
I was taken aback by the immediacy of his proposal and turned it down, in the kindest way I could. Outlining this to him cleared the air. We were then able to have a carefree lunch discussing books, music and places we liked to visit. We appeared to have quite a lot in common.
And so began a deep and enduring platonic friendship which continued right up to George’s death. If I wasn’t his partner, I was certainly his companion and confidante. He would frequently test out on me his intended speech or arguments for the case he was handling, and I was in court for many of the cases I will be discussing in this book. Almost immediately, I could see why George’s three previous marriages had failed: quite simply, he was married to the law and perfectionism came at a price. When he was involved in a case, he was like a dog with a bone and could not be moved from that subject for hours at a time. He was obsessed and absorbed in each case completely, and in that sense, he reminded me of some of the great actors, like Sir Laurence Olivier, Peter O’Toole or Richard Burton. He never took his focus off the job in hand and would be utterly, completely obsessed with it. xv
Life fell into a pattern. I would live in central London during the week and then spend some of the weekend in Wimbledon, where George lived. We didn’t have a particularly hectic social life, occasionally having dinner with friends and relatives. Our favourite pastime was to watch foreign films at the Chelsea Cinema or the Curzon Mayfair. Our taste in movies was surprisingly similar – we both loved Il Postinoand Life Is Beautiful.
This is a picture of George on the rare occasions he was able to relax and enjoy himself, reading books and relished interesting company from people in other professions and in other fields of work. It is at odds with the image of the fierce workaholic who laboured intensively for his clients.
George Alfred Carman was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, on 6 October 1929. His father, also Alfred, was a furniture retailer and his Irish-born mother, Evelyn, was a seamstress who owned a gown shop called Madame Louise.
She was a perfectionist with a strong personality and very close to George. She had a great impact on him and encouraged his close attention to detail. His father was a simple man who had no ambition. Evelyn was quite the opposite, even taking regular trips in the evening to check the shop window looked perfect.
George boarded at the age of seven at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic school in Blackpool. This was a tough, archaic institution run by the Irish Christian Brothers, an order of priests with a fearsome reputation for discipline, corporal punishment and, as was subsequently revealed, the sexual abuse of many of their charges. George was the subject of regular beatings with a leather strap. Father Tom Walsh wrote a letter to me after George’s death, saying that St Joseph’s was a ‘hard school of life’. He talked about xvi
the problems of adolescent faith … It seems as a matter of laws, regulations, prohibitions, loyalties. It takes you all of your life to realise what it means, a childlike trust that God’s purposes for you are loving and good. If not severely crushed, this conviction can last from your Catholic childhood – from your mother’s ‘faith-trust’ often.
George, as a clever boy, would have rationalised his worries more and the burden would have been too much. He came to the hurly-burly of St Joseph’s and luckily found a brilliant teacher.
Father Tom Walsh met George at pre-rugby match sports meetings. ‘George was a demon scrum-half, brave, never drew back, a terrier around the scrum,’ he wrote. Although in later life George never had time for hobbies, it appears all these qualities were exhibited in his courtroom skills.
At the age of fourteen, George attended the Up Holland Roman Catholic seminary, near Wigan. He felt he had a vocation to the priesthood and this austere college would be the place it was tested.
It instilled in him a very strict, regimented way of life. George always commented on the early rising at 6 a.m. and regular prayer. He was impressed by and benefited from the extraordinary discipline. However, after two years there, he realised that the life of a Roman Catholic priest would not be for him and he left, citing ‘the discovery of girls’ as his reason, saying that the strict rules against priests marrying were untenable.
Yet Catholicism would never quite leave George. He had a reputation for enjoying a drink, having the gift of the gab and he felt drawn to the outcasts of the world. In a letter to a good friend, Judge Michael Sachs, I noted that there was something of George’s priestly vocation that lasted through to the end. xvii
When George returned to St Joseph’s in 1945, he told me he was taken under the wing of Brother Woodhouse, particularly in the subjects of Latin and history. Woodhouse also encouraged George to broaden his reading material by delving into the classics. George took an interest in debating and decided that his goal would be to attain a place at Balliol, Oxford. But his dream nearly failed. With his usual tenacity, George sat every day at 7.30 a.m. at the top of his staircase, waiting for the mail to arrive with his post-interview letter. During the second week of patiently observing, he saw something drop through the letterbox and disappear.
He pounced down the stairs to look and could not believe there was nothing on the ground.
He was convinced a letter had dropped through a minute crack in the floorboards.
Immediately, he summoned his father to remove the floorboards – a request a furniture dealer was most unhappy to comply with…
However, the letter from Balliol College, offering him a scholarship place, had indeed slipped between the boards. If the letter had not been answered, there would have been no further correspondence.
After National Service with the Royal Army Educational Corps, George went up to Oxford, where he became a noted debater and started a Catholic journal that attracted great contributors. Fellow undergraduates included luminaries such as William Rees-Mogg, Dick Taverne, Patrick Mayhew, George Steiner and Robin Day.
After a failed attempt to be elected as a Conservative candidate in a hopeless constituency, George turned his back on politics, having received advice from an experienced QC that the Bar was too demanding to combine with a career at Westminster. However, with no family connections and no contacts among solicitors, George xviiifaced a great battle to find a chambers that would take him. He carried out mundane jobs at Lyons’s Corner House to help financially until he obtained a pupillage with Neil Lawson in London. Following this, George moved to Manchester, where he received plenty of work in the fields of crime and personal injury. In 1971, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel (QC) and finally moved to London to take a place with Byrom Street Chambers. What was to follow was arguably one of the most remarkable careers in British legal history.
All that said, I would be doing George a grave disservice if I were to concentrate solely on his personal life. He wanted the cases he was involved with to speak for themselves. With the help of court transcripts, press reports and George’s own documents, plus eyewitness accounts (including my own) of the various trials and other reflections, I have pieced together a collection of George’s most memorable cases. I have also included as the first chapter of this book his brief but illuminating account of his early life, which he managed to write before his death. My aim is to shine a light on George Carman’s world; a world that has certainly changed since he was practising in it. Lawyers today are far less strident than they were and do not like to be seen to be pulling people to pieces. That, I suppose, is reflective of the times we live in now, but it certainly would’ve baffled George had he been around today. As he said, ‘If you bring a case, you deserve everything you get.’ This book looks at such cases, the times and the context in which they emerged and – fair or otherwise – the impact they had on those involved.
Chapter One
In His Own Words: The First Three Chapters of George Carman’s Unfinished Autobiography
CHAPTER ONE
GEORGE ALBERT CARMAN QC SPEAKS HIS TRUTH
I, George Alfred Carman QC, want you, the reader of this book, to know that putting pen to paper for myself has been cathartic. Along with the account of my life’s journey up till now, I have written this chapter in the knowledge that my life expectancy has been shortened due to cancer.
There comes a time in one’s own life when one reflects on how far one has come, and my time of reflection was when I was diagnosed with cancer.
‘Time stands still for no man’ – I once read those words, but only when one looks at what little time one has left, do those words become very real!
I had a day of reflection, remembering myself as a boy wanting to be a man and in later years finding the true person within and 2becoming content within myself. Unfortunately, the time with this inner peace came later in my life and I was sad to gain this knowledge that ‘it’s OK to be oneself and to have one’s own ideas’ so late in life.
On this day of reflection, however, the moulding by loved ones and one’s own ideals and values becomes clear. Many people lose themselves in the illusion of life to please others and are not of truth to themselves. This, I realised, was of paramount importance in one’s life.
My regret is that I never found the ‘true me’ much earlier in life, as maybe I would have found that inner peace. The shortness of height and the lesser good looks would be there but would not have mattered, as I would have been happy and content within myself. Who knows, my life may have had balance, which it did not. If I could say anything, I would say hold dear and reflect on who you are and who you wish to have in your life, but most of all, be true to one’s own self.
I am a complex person, a driven person and at times an arrogant person. I totally lived for my career and was in control, which I needed. At times, it was a very lonely place, unless you had people of similar thought processes around you. I now realise it was hard for others to understand me regarding my professionalism. I realised I was living my mother’s wishes as ‘the prodigal son’. My mother would always want to do her best. She was at times very judgemental of people who were not of the same thought process. Her drive and standards helped me on my journey. I realised I had her traits not my own. I have been guilty of being in judgement of those around me and again that core footprint of my mother was repeated on those occasions. 3
My father’s views were of little use to anyone and very bigoted. However, I found myself also bigoted at times. Never until my reflection did I know who George Carman was! He was a product of a controlling home and school and only after I left home did I find my own thoughts. I also realised that at their core, they were still my mother’s thoughts and the journey that she was never able to take. Due to the control by others, I became guarded even with my own self, but it shaped me into the person I became in my career. I am truly proud of that.
I have become a well-known name, which in a small way will always be part of history spoken and written by others who follow on. I hope if anything, I have set a solid benchmark of achievement for the people who wish to aspire to my level of commitment in their work ethic.
I would love to have had my own ‘learning hall’ for young members of the Bar to educate them, not with the law itself but how to perform in their career in a professional manner. I felt the code of conduct and principles were starting to lack, due to the pressure put on the younger generation. I could see they were all in the same mould, with few if any personalities given the chance to shine. I would have loved to help them on their way and give guidance to be ‘themselves when working and to aspire to be great’. It is what truly inspires that makes you grow and increases one’s desire to learn from what one sees and hears.
We are all of service in many ways. I remember watching a man called Fred Housego on TV and was astounded by his knowledge and photographic memory. Yet he was a taxi driver.
I thought to myself, ‘Well, look at how we judge others on what they do for a living and their intellect.’ I thought that I may have 4been one of his passengers, and would I have taken any notice of this man? The answer would be NO! Yet there he was, not only of service like oneself to others but a man trying to improve his life.
As I sat watching this man, it changed my thought processes regarding how I behaved in front of even the cleaners. In fact, this man pulled me up sharp and inspired me. I have personally grown in life more by being inspired than by doing what was expected of me by others.
I have been able to look at my life and in seeing I was harsh towards any form of health or social weakness, both in myself and others, I realise this had a very great effect on my son and probably harmed him rather than helped him.
If I could say anything constructive, it would be to embrace all the senses and let them surface. One could accommodate other feelings and still show oneself to be strong. Letting one’s own emotions to the surface can heal and help one move forward. I could have been kinder to myself. As a young child, my parents were very rigid in thoughts regarding any illness, and one was told to grin and bear it. I held the same thought process in my life! I wish I had done more crying in the psychological sense. I felt inner pain caused by my struggle to get somewhere in life, and this also caused imbalance in my life. I took the wrong choices to please others and all took their toll.
I would sit in judgement of people in my early and later years, until the time of my contentment, when I saw the bigger picture in life. We are all the same but given different abilities to express this. I very often found the ordinary person would be of great help on many occasions. Their logic is straightforward and often takes a simpler view of the problem and its solution. So I stopped looking to judge and found that I was the one being educated. 5
I have looked at myself as an elder and now realise that I did not let people in! Including people who enhanced my life in many ways and became friends, yet still I kept my guard up and I did not let them in. I regret this and realise that my whole life has been guarded against any form of true feelings towards others. I now see I could and should have been just George Carman, instead of being afraid of letting my mask down. I prevailed along the professional routes, when in fact I could and should have had harmony to enjoy both. I have learned this now, that it is too late! If you want people around you that you like and love, then it’s OK to have them in your company and not just when time allows you to do so. I now realise I’m not of this earth for much longer and I say to you all, do not leave it until time is coming to a closure for you to express your own feelings. I unfortunately am totally guilty of the very thing I have written about and that is because it’s my own lesson too late. If I had been of truth to myself, perhaps the people I hurt along the way would not have suffered from my single-mindedness. I can’t change the past; it’s too late! But with these words, perhaps I may be able to help others like myself to re-evaluate their life now.
The biggest challenge and fight of my life was when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. My thoughts were firstly to see it off, and secondly to also grin and bear whatever lay ahead regarding treatments – there was a very long haul after I was diagnosed! I also thought, ‘I must get on with it and fight to destroy it.’
I can truly say that I dealt with it by not giving it my attention. I thought that if I was going to get cancer anywhere, it would have been my lungs due to the smoking, however that was not so. Sometimes I would cry inside but tell myself, ‘Don’t be so weak,’ knowing my mother regarded illness in any shape or form as a weakness.
The processes of the treatment and the doctors’ statements of 6‘You are doing well’ was encouragement but after a while started to sound like a recording to encourage one, but they did not state one way or the other the likely outcome. In the latter part of my disease, I have had to face the fact that no matter what was tried to stop it, one couldn’t halt it and there will be a day when I will have to be very brave and accept it is going to beat me! One can’t give it any more in the psychological sense, so you’re left to accept ‘that will be that’.
I am quite brave in the way I have dealt with the disease, but one’s inner self gets to a point where one knows the truth and has to look it in the eye and face it. That takes courage. Whatever takes you, one has to accept it’s the way it’s going to be.
After the news of my cancer, I enjoyed what was around me much more. I enjoyed the company of the people close to me and the lesson I learned ‘to be true to myself ’. That may shock you, as I seem very much in control of who I am and what I do. However, take away the title and all you have is a man. I have feared death, but once I knew it was coming, I have chosen to look it in the eye and accepted it. I would not express my fear, as that would show weakness.
I did see a ‘white mist’ in the hall. It did not faze me in anyway, but I knew I had witnessed something which was not of human form. It moved quite slowly and then disappeared. It did not feel like a bad energy and gave me a form of comfort and confirmation that an afterlife exists.
I am sad that there will be a day when I will not see the people that I love around me any more, nor tell those who truly matter to me how I felt regarding them. I am sad that I have to give up my career and because of the thought of not seeing the sunshine, the rain and the flowers. Of course, I believe in ‘God’s energy’. I 7believe at the end of my life, there will be a place that I will go to be received. I fear retribution for the weak side of myself, my indulgences. I thought I was one of the most positive people on the planet, but when death is looking at you and has boxed you into a corner with nowhere to go, a little self-pity is helpful. Holding back one’s emotions for the benefit of others causes the emotion to go within and can cause more harm. Crying, laughter, sadness and joy have been given to human beings as a release mechanism for healing. We all arrived with a cry!
CHAPTER TWO
THE MAKING OF THE ADVOCATE
My life in law I embraced wholly. My mask was my career and I was able to hide behind it and shine, but for who, I ask? I see it was for others’ approval; I copied my mother, who also sought others’ approval.
I was devoted and dedicated to my career and being the best at what I did to assist others is paramount to me. I would show my true colours on the closure of cases at their final execution.
I helped many, many people in my time and joy was experienced as a result on many occasions. My work opened many interesting doors to interesting people.
Ironically, in my early years in law, I feared failure, until I saw fear in another and quickly dismissed it as a weakness! A weakness that predators can feast upon, for gain and for victory.
One could say that when I took on a case, I used sports tactics. If a boxer enters the ring with his guard down, he will be the victim of the opponent. The very best boxers watch their opponent’s moves and look for their weak spots to make the kill. 8
I would go over and over all the evidence with a fine toothcomb. I am quite charming and witty and that was for two reasons. I used it when I was at college to throw off guard the bullies, and also when in court to make the juries feel at ease. It was also my mask, as I used to worry, but I am human after all!
Once you’re at the top of any profession, there are those who wish you to fall. Jealousy can be quite evil. My profession gave me the opportunity to shine. I could wear a mask of an actor to cover the nerves. The court was my platform. I have become the very best I could be and am proud of myself for my career. I knew I wanted to be someone who set precedence for others, someone they could admire and try to become or even better! This is the way to lead people forward in the law.
All the pioneers, philosophers and explorers have the same thing in common: they are total individuals. I was unique, I made sure of that! I wanted to be remembered for what you can achieve when the chance comes along. I say chance, because of the way life can lead people to be in the right place at the right time. Some people can have all they need to take them forward but somehow it doesn’t happen. Maybe that’s because there are leaders and followers in life and that balance is always there, whether human or animal. One must not judge the followers; their journey is just as important. We are cogs in a wheel of life. There is balance in life – the leaders and the led.
My father once said, ‘Why do you bother? You won’t succeed to do anything special in life.’ Those words haunted me, and from then onwards, I was going to prove him wrong. I learned to only rely on myself, even though I had people around me. I was very singular in thought. One would call it selfish, but I would call it singular. How very wrong my father was, as I was par excellence at 9my work. My career was my whole being and meant everything to me. I had become a great person, just like my parents’ comments in my childhood regarding the ‘great people’ who built the railways. Those words were set in my mind from childhood and I had wanted to be great also, and there I was at the top of my career.
I worked hard. I would go over and over everything with a fine toothcomb and then again, keeping ahead of the game. I made sure I read and looked at every piece of evidence sometimes three or four times over.
I was always a people watcher. This gave me a great advantage over whom I was to take on. I learned that if their shoulders moved on the left side when I was cross-examining, that I had them on the run! Although I had what I needed in written form, the body language was also important and I was usually correct. Some, however, were clever, believing that if they said nothing, they were possibly going to get away with it. In those I watched their eyebrows: if they lifted them on cross-examination, I knew I had them and went in on the visual cues for the kill to execute the case with excellence.
I was at times tired, but then I would look at the sky and say, ‘Come on, old chap. How lucky you are to be able to do what you are doing’ serving others.
I also watched and listened to my work colleagues and peers. I found that people who talk about themselves gave away their weaknesses and fears, again wonderful! As in court, one knew how to rattle them before and during a case.
I always looked the judges in the eye and held their gaze, as this showed confidence. I realised early on that if one shows any sign of weakness, one is looked upon as weak or not as good at what one does. So I always made sure to give the appearance that I am totally confident in what I was doing, which I can say truly unnerved some. 10
Once in for the kill, I am ruthless, as I had so much retained knowledge and information of the case, I would home in on it, like a boxer punching his opponent when off guard. I love it! I was wanted, I am needed and I am talked about.
I am the best at what I do, but it could be a very lonely journey for people not of the same thoughts. You see, the main difference between myself and my colleagues was that to me, the law is my whole being, everything! To others, but not all, it is more of a job. In being so committed, I will always make sure I give over 110 per cent. Others, however, stick to the textbook guideline on deliverance and on summing up during court cases. I will always be one step ahead, as I look outside the box, shall we say.
There were one or two who were committed in a similar fashion to myself. We, however (and to mention no names), did not see eye to eye, as our egos, including mine, get in the way.
At work, I like to be in my own company, but one has to share chambers! I can be awkward company, as I like to rehearse questions and answers myself before a case came to court. I will rehearse over and over to get things perfect in my mind, in case my client could be asked an awkward question. I would be at the ready to have the knowledge at hand, verbal or written. So I would practise being my client and putting questions that I thought may come their way and how I would answer them. You see, I was clever, and the truth and only the truth mattered. So, I liked my own space to practise this.
I am a very heavy smoker and others (not to name them) were not pleased with the smoke or smell the cigarettes give off.
I often look out the window from my chambers and think to myself, ‘Well, Mother, if you could see me now, I’ve done you proud.’ We can all have bad days at work. I am no exception, but I can tell you when I put my work clothes on, I automatically change. 11I become completely in control of my thoughts and completely driven.
I have a little superstition and will say to myself just before going into the courtrooms, ‘Carman, you have a job to do and do it you will.’
And on leaving a completed case, I would say, ‘Job well done!’
I am small in stature, but in court, I am a giant of a man. I also have to wear the same colour socks when in court! Silly to look at it now, but at the time, it was the normal way of thinking and would assist me in winning and helping things going well. My shoes also have to shine. I am not alone in these little ‘safety nets’; quite a few of us in the law have them.
I will bring everyone into the courtroom proceedings. I will look each jury member in the eye during my cross-examination. I will hold the person’s gaze and watch their expressions. I am quite sarcastic and very dry in court, which will make people laugh and unbeknown to them, makes them feel at ease and more relaxed. That gives me an edge on the person I am questioning. I will try to make them feel belittled to rattle them, and when people are rattled, they become angry and start to forget where they are, even for just a moment; they can then drop themselves in it by failing in their own defence. I know that my complete dedication gives me advantage over my colleagues. Hard work pays off; practice makes perfect.
I knew that my life is anything but the norm and due to this sacrifice, others suffered. I must say that with my career, luck also played its part. I was in the right place at the right time. The court is my platform, as I said before, and I have become the very best I can be. I have absolutely no regrets regarding my career. I do my best to assist the common man and those up-and-coming men of the law to be the best they can possibly be in their career. I would change my personal life to have more balance. 12
One morning at fifty-five years old, I looked in the mirror and saw an older version of myself staring back at me and for the first time in my life, I acknowledged I had aged. At that moment, my whole being seemed to change, including my outlook and perspective on things in many ways. I also asked myself where have all the years gone? I look much older in the flesh but not in the mind. The ageing thoughts only stayed a few moments. I had never observed myself as a person in the flesh before and it gave a sense of meaning. On that day when I recognised I was on the other side of fifty-five years, it was a trigger point for me to not stand still with time but to embrace myself much more and to do so much more career-wise. I did consider that same year to move abroad to America, but I soon dismissed it, as I knew what I have achieved here in England and I am respected. That means a lot to me.
I was greatly inspired by Winston Churchill. As I saw it, he was a genius who would ask people around him their opinions and views and take what he considered to be the positives and consolidate this with his own thoughts.
I also adopted this method in my career with my juniors, asking, ‘What do you think?’ This, I found, gave me respect and them a sense of confidence. However, I always maintained their respect and did not let anyone cross the line with me.
I also had respect for Douglas Bader – there was a man of great courage and determination, true grit and his dedication to the last was unconditional. How wonderful. What he did, allowed our people and others to be free, including myself.
I also had respect for Reginald Mitchell, the man who created the Spitfire. He was a genius, who also looked outside the boundaries of the normal and believed in himself.
I am a complex person and like to be in control, as losing control 13of oneself could show weakness. I knew when working that my life was anything but that considered to be the norm.
As a young man, I would get a great adrenaline rush after each court case and would have suffered a ‘great come down’ that could be avoided by alcoholic drinks after the cases. Drink would loosen my tongue and allow my voice to state how I felt. Again shyness disappeared. I have an addictive personality.
Company sometimes came at a price to one’s own self. I could be in the company of what one would call ‘hardened drinkers’ and at times one would more often find oneself nursing a hangover. After long hours of work and after putting ‘my all’ into my work for that day, I would not want to just go home. Normal life in that respect was something that was dull. When I won cases, one would go out and people wanted you in their company, not for oneself but for the ‘man with the title’. I knew that, but it suited me. I met many people from many walks of life, including villains and more. At the Garrick Club, I would listen to those around me and their opinions on everything. Their views on political issues and who they voted for gave me the measure of the company I had. I had many acquaintances but very few true friends of my choosing.
In my latter years, of course, one knew how to channel this energy after a court case, but as a young man, I did not. Later in my life, I preferred a social drink of quality rather than quantity.
On reflection, my smoking was a crutch or safety net, along with my addictive personality. I smoked as I thought it seemed to bring me luck. If I had a cigarette, I would have a good outcome on any case that I worked on and that escalated into my personal life. I found comfort in smoking, which switched to having to smoke, which was a silly thought process.
On reflection, I know I was a ‘hail-fellow-well-met’. I loved to 14indulge others in my ability to pay and treat them. It gave me great pleasure. I was no fool, though; some took my kindness as a weakness. I soon saw through them, even if I was a little worse for wear at times. I was always on my guard and made sure that any form of snipe coming my way, I very quickly stopped.
I am a man who runs deep. People I met who thought they knew me did not. They would only see what was on the surface. In an odd way, I dealt with my shyness via my professionalism. I only became at ease with myself later in life, when I was at the top and had more time to engage with and choose who I wanted to be around me.
Karen Phillipps was a lady whom I let into my life. A lady of great complexity! An enigma in a way. We have common ground in our work area. She is kind and I see her as a person who needed nurturing even though one would try to guide her, but she has her own plans. I respected that in her, but it can also frustrate me. I am very pleased that she is a part of my life’s journey. I never felt that either of us as individuals wanted or required more than what we have together.
CHAPTER THREE
GEORGE CARMAN’S PRIVATE LIFE AND UPBRINGING
My ‘out-of-balance life’ affected my home life. I want to tell my son Dominic that I love him and that I’m sorry. He has inherited my stubborn streak! I expected my son to complete a similar journey and for much I have regrets and want to apologise for myself.
I am proud of my son but expected too much from him, including him to climb to great heights. Although I was around, I never gave him balance. My career took my time and I did not show him nor tell him how much I loved him. In having given what he 15required ‘provision and moneywise’, I feel to blame for his lack of responsibility in that area ‘mea culpa’ (my fault). During my reflection, I realised that I too had some of my father’s traits and could have been a better father to my son. I did not break the circle that was created by my father. We can all say that’s a ‘cop-out’ to blame one’s own failings on the parent or parents. Well, parents have a duty to encourage their children to go forward.
Dominic and I had a somewhat complex relationship, which is not at all unique in families with professional parents, as it can become difficult to give time to family life. At times, career and family both had to suffer, but this did not mean that I did not love my son – I do!
I wanted him to become a man who wore his own suit and reached his goals in life. I found my son to be an ‘optimistic opportunist’ who thought he could see the bigger picture in life without analysing where it could take him.
I feel he will please people as a ‘yes man’ to gain approval from others.
In my later years, I became wiser and accepted who he is, which made me more at ease with him. I accepted his journey wouldn’t be as driven as mine. He always knew I was there and that’s all that mattered to me in the end. I could have been a better father! History repeated itself.
My profession took precedence like my parents. I did provide for him; I felt he had my father’s traits in many ways. I want to tell my son I love him and that I’m sorry.
I look at my grandson Matthew and see a ‘younger me’. I mellowed with age and that allowed me to enjoy him as he brought such joy. He was an achiever and it was such happiness to be in his presence and to know he knew his life’s journey at a young age. 16
I can say truly, I was never wholly satisfied with a ‘confined’ normal married way of life. I know I let all three of my wives down. My hunger to be the best at what I did, and my choice of career, took precedence. I did not see beyond that! I did what I thought was expected; I provided but inevitably the marriages broke down.
I regret hurting all three of my wives and for not having the courage of my convictions to say no. I also feel I should have ended the courtships sooner, on reflection. You see, my controlling ways in a sense made me want them to be there, even though I was totally unhappy in a marriage situation and believed that letting go was a failure for oneself.
I should never have walked down the aisle. I conformed to what was expected to be the norm. I was selfish and because of this, the people around me suffered. I helped others in their lives, but I was to blame for failing in my own.
I guess I truly found it hard to show my feelings in the correct way, and in not doing so I had three failed marriages. I can truly say that all three were very beautiful women. Marriage was not a need or requirement that wholly fulfilled me. I married because it was considered to be the norm and expected thing to do, and again mainly to please others. I could have done a better job of being a husband and father. Take away the wig and costume and you have only the man.
How things have changed. People are free to make choices now and it is no longer frowned upon if people just live together or remain single.
My childhood also had imbalance: although my sister and I were happy and my mother showed us more affection than my father, it was only experienced when time permitted. My parents were controlling in the sense that they never made the home life a place of 17joy; it was always work orientated. I knew my parents were not at all happy with their marriage, but for pride’s sake they stayed together.
I felt that made me grow up quickly. I can truly state that my childhood was quite lonely. My parents were business orientated. Mother was a workaholic. She was a lovely kind lady but in no way empathic regarding illness or weakness that she saw in others or herself. Mother was also a very private lady and our house had very few visitors who were allowed into the home. Our family was a tight unit in that respect; we kept ourselves to ourselves. She would say we don’t want others peering in at what we have and judging us. I did have a privileged upbringing, but my journey grounded me. My parents’ snobbery made me not want to be condescending to less fortunate people. My mother was always working and had little spare time to give to the family. She was a driven lady and I looked up to her.
Mother would always tell me that if anyone knocks on the door unexpectedly, do not open the front door wide, as we do not want them peering in at our belongings. For the milkman, however, mother would open the front door more than the usual crack-sized gap to allow her to pay him for the week’s milk. So this was how the Carman family received people who called upon us! However, the priest was always welcome; my parents considered it as great honour to have him round. Mother would fuss over him, giving him tea and cake; they felt it was a privilege, you see. I, on the other hand, saw he was only there for the cake. My family sought approval: they were in awe of those whom they felt had respect in society and that included doctors, priests and teachers. My father was very much in awe of them and would take what they said as gospel.
My mother had great order in our house and everything was done to time. After the evening meal, the table was always set for 18breakfast. Our house was kept clean in case we had visitors, which makes me smile on reflection since my mother was very fussy about whom she allowed into the house.
Ironically, as my mother was very judgemental of others that she regarded to be common people, she would help others and show her kindness to those less fortunate but considered herself to be upper class when in fact we were merely middle class. She would tell me that in order to get on in life, you have to do the very best you can at whatever you do. That had a big impact upon my attitude to my career and the journey to the top of my profession.
I had a good school friend called Fred Murray. He was allowed into the house and garden as my parents liked his parents. They owned a fruit and vegetable stall and wanted to own a shop, so that impressed my mother greatly. That friendship sadly ended when they moved to Sutton-on-Sea.
I had little or no respect for my father. He was sarcastic and a formidable character. He would have a look that made you stop and listen, which even now in my life I can feel the effects of deep within. He had a single-minded attitude and everything he said would have a tinge of sarcasm to it. I felt that he and my mother had parallel lives, due to their work. My mother was the strong one of the family; she pushed us forward.
My father would be in his own world, really. I sought my father’s approval and wanted him to respect me. In my eyes, my father did not love nor even like me and was jealous of the love my mother showed towards me and I towards her. He never once told me he loved me, in fact the complete opposite. I considered that he did not have any feelings towards me.
He was damning, sarcastic and brutal in his way. He would speak to me in monosyllabic words on a good day. He said I would never 19aspire to anything or anyone of importance in life. This made me very determined to prove him wrong. Always in my life’s journey, those words and his lack of love resonated in my subconscious. I realised it made me a singular person who would only look to oneself for everything and became unable to show my true feelings.
Despite this, my father was a man I loved but had no respect for. I took my father’s traits of not being able to express my thoughts and personal feelings, but only in my later years have I seen that in myself.
So I became solo in thought and action. It was my way of coping with life. My career became my life as I was in control of it and oneself within that profession.
My mother was a very clever lady. She had this special knack of getting one to do the household chores. They were considered to be a great privilege. I had the honour each week of winding up the clock, cleaning the dining room table and chairs completely, including every leg and also underneath the seats, and the top of the table was polished to make it shine! She was also fastidious with regard to keeping the house spick and span, as she would say.
I was also in charge, fortnightly, of polishing the brass candlesticks, which were placed either end of the mantelpiece. My mother also had peculiarities and many superstitions. Never would she pass a green gate or attempt to walk through one. No new shoes were allowed on the table due to them bringing ‘bad luck’, she would say. Also lavender was never permitted indoors, as she believed it would give bad luck outdoors. As to the green gates, one never had an explanation as to why she had this problem regarding them. One could only assume that she thought it would bring her bad luck.
I also developed superstitions as a result. I can remember as a young man my left shoe had to be put on first and my shoes always 20had to shine. I can only imagine that my father had an influence on this from his army background. My mother used to say that shiny shoes always pleased people, it shows others you’re from good stock and people judged you on shiny shoes. I also had a thing regarding doors, which I preferred to open on the right side as I entered the room. I liked things in the house to be in place, but in my later years, I was not so fussy.
I learned to accept that I would only have my own company for the majority of my youth and teenage years. I actually liked my own company, and I would take myself off to the local area and beyond to enjoy watching and listening to people’s conversations. From a very young age, I would be a great listener and would observe people’s behaviour, which I felt was a great asset to have and came in useful later in my life in the courtroom and on many occasions. As I was quite shy (believe it or not), most people were not aware of this young boy near them, or if they were, I can only imagine that they were not aware that I was watching and listening. I gained great knowledge from my time with this hobby.
I also remember our family train journey with my parents saying to one another how great the people were who invented the trains and railways! On that same train journey, I can recall myself looking out of the carriage window and thinking to myself that I wanted to be great one day. That thought inspired me and remained with me for my lifetime, as I said before.
