JUDGE GODDARD GOES BACK TO WORK AFTER ATTACK

JUDGE GODDARD GOES BACK TO WORK AFTER ATTACK

Old Bailey judge back at work after attack

By Sue Clough,

Courts Correspondent

DAILY TELEGRAPH online 19/06/2001

 

HER left eye blackened and with a plaster over a head injury which required five stitches, Judge Ann Goddard returned to the Old Bailey 48 hours after she was attacked by a man accused of murder.

Judge Ann Goddard: 'I have received many, many messages of support which have touched me greatly'

The judge, 64, was driven to court yesterday by Sir Montague Levine, the former Southwark Coroner and a family friend. She smiled slightly as she entered court 11 where she presides as the Old Bailey's only permanent woman judge.
Edward Rees, QC, appearing for a defendant of 18 on a jewellery shop murder charge, offered "on behalf of the Bar our regrets about recent events. We hope Your Ladyship is making a good recovery". Judge Goddard, who has declined to talk about her ordeal, replied: "I am most grateful. I have received many, many messages of support which have touched me greatly."
She is the only member of the judiciary to have been attacked in court in recent times, although others have been verbally abused. She was injured by a man of 33 accused of stabbing his girlfriend 44 times with a samurai sword. He leapt from the dock, hurled a carafe at her and punched her in the face and head before being pulled off by the court clerk, police and lawyers.
An inquiry is under way by Securicor, which provided the prison escort guards, and the Lord Chancellor's Department.