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29/07/2009
Top Lawyer Ferguson Dies
One of Northern Ireland's most distinguished legal figures who featured in some of the highest-profile criminal cases of the last two decades, has died at the age of 73.
Richard Ferguson QC, who passed away at London Bridge Hospital on Sunday, represented the likes of Brighton bomber Patrick Magee, Rosemary West, Guinness boss Ernest Saunders and property tycoon Nicholas Van Hoogstraten.
The well-known barrister was born in Co Fermanagh. He attended Methodist College before studying law in Belfast.
He was both a unionist member of the Stormont parliament and a barrister before moving to London in 1983.
In the early years of The Troubles Ferguson defended IRA men, loyalists and soldiers. He described himself as "very ecumenical" and believed no one was ever able to 'pigeonhole' him.
He said: "What has always driven me has been the desire to stand up for the little man and take on the powers of the state and, where possible, secure a verdict of not guilty.
"What I always wanted to do was to take on the unpopular client and to demonstrate that the popular conception of the case was wrong."
Sir Richard Branson of Virgin, the boxer Terry Marsh, and REM guitarist Peter Buck were among those who called on his services.
Among his most headline-grabbing court appearances was the trail of Rose West, who in the autumn of 1995 was accused of helping her late husband Fred murder 10 girls in their home in Gloucester.
Mr Ferguson questioned the legitimacy of the trial in which West was jailed for life.
He said: "There are certain cases where the enormity of the alleged crimes is such that it is virtually impossible to get a jury to look at the facts dispassionately. [She] did not get a fair trial because the media, in advance of the trial, had hyped up the situation to such an extent that no jury could have judged her case dispassionately.
"Fred was dead and somebody had to be held responsible. If he'd been alive she might have been acquitted."
Mr Ferguson recently defended British soldiers accused of war crimes in Iraq and this year he again took a brief in Northern Ireland, representing the PSNI at the public inquiry into the murder of Robert Hamill.
The funeral service will be held at Gray's Inn, London, on Friday morning.
(GK/BMcC)
Richard Ferguson QC, who passed away at London Bridge Hospital on Sunday, represented the likes of Brighton bomber Patrick Magee, Rosemary West, Guinness boss Ernest Saunders and property tycoon Nicholas Van Hoogstraten.
The well-known barrister was born in Co Fermanagh. He attended Methodist College before studying law in Belfast.
He was both a unionist member of the Stormont parliament and a barrister before moving to London in 1983.
In the early years of The Troubles Ferguson defended IRA men, loyalists and soldiers. He described himself as "very ecumenical" and believed no one was ever able to 'pigeonhole' him.
He said: "What has always driven me has been the desire to stand up for the little man and take on the powers of the state and, where possible, secure a verdict of not guilty.
"What I always wanted to do was to take on the unpopular client and to demonstrate that the popular conception of the case was wrong."
Sir Richard Branson of Virgin, the boxer Terry Marsh, and REM guitarist Peter Buck were among those who called on his services.
Among his most headline-grabbing court appearances was the trail of Rose West, who in the autumn of 1995 was accused of helping her late husband Fred murder 10 girls in their home in Gloucester.
Mr Ferguson questioned the legitimacy of the trial in which West was jailed for life.
He said: "There are certain cases where the enormity of the alleged crimes is such that it is virtually impossible to get a jury to look at the facts dispassionately. [She] did not get a fair trial because the media, in advance of the trial, had hyped up the situation to such an extent that no jury could have judged her case dispassionately.
"Fred was dead and somebody had to be held responsible. If he'd been alive she might have been acquitted."
Mr Ferguson recently defended British soldiers accused of war crimes in Iraq and this year he again took a brief in Northern Ireland, representing the PSNI at the public inquiry into the murder of Robert Hamill.
The funeral service will be held at Gray's Inn, London, on Friday morning.
(GK/BMcC)
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