Judge who ranted over luggage retires days before inquiry

A SENIOR judge who ranted about his airport luggage during a case has retired two days before a disciplinary hearing was due to take place.

Mr Justice Peter Smith, 65, who has been a High Court judge since 2002, will retire today, two days before a hearing examining his conduct in two high-profile trials was scheduled.

The judge has been accused of bias twice since 2015. The first complaint came after he used a case involving British Airways to complain that the airline had lost his luggage.

During the hearing, which was about air cargo charges, he repeatedly asked BA lawyers what had happened to his bags, which had gone missing during a trip to Florence. He was forced to recuse himself after lawyers for the airline argued that he could no longer hear the case impartially.

A further investigation was opened by the Judicial Conduct Investigation Office (JCIO) in May last year after lawyers for a Saudi Arabian prince argued that the judge’s £25million award to his father’s “secret wife” had been made as revenge for criticism over the BA matter. Lawyers from Blackstone Chambers said the payout had been motivated by the judge’s grievance, because Lord Pannick, a QC in the chambers, had written a newspaper article arguing that the judge’s conduct during the BA case raised “serious issues about judicial conduct”.

A letter in response by Mr Justice Smith to one of the heads of the chambers called Lord Pannick’s article “quite outrageous” and said “I will no longer support your chambers.”

The prince appealed against the payout. A retrial was ordered last June and a Court of Appeal judge ruled that the

‘In accordance with the rules, all conduct investigations cease immediately when a judicial office holder retires’

case should be re-listed in February this year. After that case, the judge agreed to stand down until the complaints were resolved. He has been on paid leave since May last year.

A hearing date for the disciplinary panel of Oct 30 was fixed, but yesterday the judiciary announced that Mr Justice Smith was to retire. The JCIO said: “Mr Justice Peter Smith retires with effect from Oct 28 2017. In accordance with JCIO rules, all conduct investigations cease immediately when a judicial office holder retires.”