Tributes to judge of skill, humanity fairness and charm

Judges and barristers have paid tribute to Canterbury Crown Court’s first resident judge, Giles Rooke QC.

The much-loved advocate – who has died aged 86 – left his mark on the judiciary across Kent, with those who knew him sharing stories of his quick wit, fairness and love of Latin.

Judge James O’mahony – a successor to Judge Rooke as the Recorder of Margate – told a packed Court Six: “Giles Rooke was Canterbury Crown Court.”

A retired deputy Lord Lieutenant of Kent, Judge Rooke was educated at Stowe School and then Exeter College, Oxford, reading classics.

By 21 he became a member of the Kent Yeomanry and remained active in the TA until he was 65, reaching the rank of major.

He was called to the Bar in 1957 and took silk in 1979, becoming a recorder in 1980 and a judge in 1981.

He was assigned his post as resident judge at the new combined courts in July 1995 when it was opened by the Duke of Kent.

He was struck by tragedy in 1997 when his seven-year-old son Charles drowned in a neighbour’s swimming pool while he was presiding over a trial at the crown court.

“It was one of those ghastly million to one accidents,” he told the Gazette at the time.

“Charles was a lovely lad and we will miss him terribly.”

Judge Rooke, who lived in Bridge near Canterbury, retired seven years after Charles’ death, but another son, barrister Alex, regularly appears in cases in the city.

Judge O’mahony added: “He was a judge of skill, fairness, humanity and old-fashioned courtesy...together with a boyish twinkle-eyed charm and humour.”

Judge O’mahony said that despite Judge Rooke’s love of speaking Latin he could also take a joke, as when Jonathan Higgs, now a QC and part-time judge, complained that his heavily tattooed client from an estate in Ramsgate did not understand the language.

Responding on behalf of the Bar, Tony Prosser praised Judge Rooke for “working long and hard” to ensure that Canterbury had a first-class court.

The barrister recalled the judge once turning downing a bail application on behalf of a defendant by telling him: “He can eat the bread of reflection...in the house of correction.”

Judge Rooke had a wide variety of interests including as a trustee of the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies in Canterbury, sometime member of the Council of University of Kent, Honorary Senior Fellow of the UKC Law School and president of The Royal Artillery Association in Canterbury.

He was appointed a deputy Lord Lieutenant of Kent in May 2001 and served three Lord Lieutenants.

The current Lord-lieutenant of Kent, Viscount De L’isle praised his “good humour and aplomb”, adding: “Our thoughts are very much with his widow Anne.”

Judges, lawyers and court staff also gathered at Maidstone Crown Court to pay tribute to Judge Rooke with a plethora of amusing stories.

Judge Jeremy Carey said he was highly respected for his “evenhandedness, commonsense and fairness” and had a sense of humour, both in court and in chambers.

“Clever though he undoubtedly was – and his patience must have been tried by those less quickwitted – he was a kind and generous man,” said the Resident Judge.

“He demonstrated his unswerving support for the Kent Bar over many years.

“Some might say judges, or at least some of us, are a bland lot these days, and they might be right. Bland, Judge Rooke was not.

“He had character, intelligence and confidence to proceed judicially in a way which suited his temperament. We are proud to have known him.”

Christopher May, on behalf of the Kent Bar, said Judge Rooke’s death marked the end of an era.

“He was a stalwart of the law in Kent, as a barrister and many years as a judge,” he said. “He was intellectually formidable with an acute sense of humour and fun.

“He was certainly idiosyncratic but never to be underestimated.”

Judge Rooke would demonstrate his knowledge of Latin and Green and as a “wordsmith” would condemn lawyers for using phrases such as nittygritty.

He would tell lawyers who were improperly dressed: “I can’t hear you.” One barrister then spoke louder, only to receive the same response, said Mr May.

He added: “Giles Rooke QC was a true servant of the law. He was a complete original. His like will not be seen again, and he will be greatly missed.”

A fitting farewell was given by Mr Prosser, who shared the epitaph to Sir Christopher Wren: “Si Monumentum Requiris, Circumspice”. “If you seek his monument, look around.”

Judge Giles Rooke