Judge forced to retire by rare form of dementia takes his own life at age 71
A Former leading family judge has committed suicide after being diagnosed with dementia, his family announced yesterday.
Sir Nicholas Wall, who retired on health grounds in 2012, had endured ‘years of suffering’.
he ended his life at the age of 71 at a care home in Sevenoaks, Kent.
Police were informed last Friday and an inquest will now be held.
he leaves his 71-year- old wife of 40 years, Margaret, and children Imogen, 41, emma, 39, rosalind, 36, and Simon. he also had two grandsons, Joshua and Arthur. Yesterday at Lady Wall’s home in Clapham, south west London, the family paid tribute to their ‘much-loved husband, father and grandfather’.
earlier they had placed a notice in The Times announcing that Sir Nicholas had ‘died by his own hand’. It was accompanied by a moving verse from Tennyson’s poem Tithonus.
Sir Nicholas had been Britain’s most senior family judge, appointed President of the Family Division of the high Court in 2010, and was a champion of open justice and a forthright critic of shoddy practices by social workers, councils and politicians. he was instrumental in open-
‘Such compassion for people’
ing up to public scrutiny the notoriously secretive Court of Protection, which rules on issues concerning the care of those suffering mental illness. It had operated behind closed doors until he started the process of reform, saying: ‘We don’t want people quietly locked up in private.’
But Sir Nicholas’ poor health robbed him of the chance to finish his work, and he retired five years ago. his rare brain condition – fronto-temporal lobe dementia – was only diagnosed recently.
The cruel and debilitating condition, also known as Pick’s disease, affects parts of the brain that control behaviour, emotions and language.
Sufferers usually have language or behavioural problems include impulsivity, loss of inhibitions and irrationality which become gradually more severe over time. his family said in a statement last night: ‘Sir Nicholas took his own life having suffered for several years from a rare neurological disease ... that had only recently been diagnosed.’
A source close to the family said the death was not connected to Dignitas or any other centre for assisted dying.
It is understood Sir Nicholas died at emily Jackson house, a care home for the elderly specialising in dementia. It is unknown whether anyone was with him when he died.
A spokesman for Kent Police last night confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances.
A graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, Sir Nicholas was called to the Bar in 1969 before holding a series of top court posts. he became president of the Family Division in 2010 despite opposition from Jack Straw, who was Justice Secretary at the time, possibly wary of his reputation as an outspoken critic of public officials.
In 2009, Sir Nicholas had urged his colleagues to ‘come off the bench’ and speak out about the ‘parlous state of family law’.
In one memorable case, he said social workers were ‘perceived as the arrogant and enthusiastic removers of children’, who ‘trample on the rights of parents and children in the process’.
And in 2011 he called for a ‘livein lovers’ law to protect women in long-term relationships from losing their home and their income following a break-up.
The Family Law Bar Association last night described Sir Nicholas as a ‘compassionate judge who thought and cared deeply about the outcome of his cases’.
Family law barrister James roberts said he was ‘a most humane judge who always strived for the best outcome’. And in a tweet directed at Dignity in Dying, which campaigns for the right to assisted suicide, barrister Alan Bates said: ‘A noble last gift by the wonderful Sir Nicholas Wall to justice and law reform to let it be known that he took his own life.’
he added later: ‘I think it’s quite poignant in highlighting some of the problems around assisted dying and suicide. I can well see why someone who was known for his huge intellectual power and who felt such compassion for people would find the thought of losing their mental faculties so hard to bear.’ Sir James Munby, his successor as President of the Family Division, said: ‘he was appropriately outspoken about the plight of children caught up in the midst of parental conflict.
‘Sir Nicholas’ life was one of very great achievement and he has left us a formidable and enduring legacy.’ Last night emily Jackson house care home did not respond to requests for comment.