Sir Christopher Pitchford | |
---|---|
Lord Justice of Appeal | |
In office 12 January 2010 – 29 March 2017 | |
Preceded by | Sir Scott Baker |
Personal details | |
Born | 28 March 1947 |
Died | 18 October 2017 | (aged 70)
Sir Christopher John Pitchford (28 March 1947 – 18 October 2017)[1] was a senior British judge, who was a Lord Justice of Appeal in England and Wales from 2010 until he retired because of ill-health in 2017.
Pitchford was educated at Queen's College, Taunton and studied law at Queen Mary, University of London. He was called to the Bar in 1969, becoming a Bencher of Middle Temple in 1996. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1987 and appointed a Deputy High Court judge in 1996. Pitchford was appointed a full judge of that court on 28 September 2000 and received the customary knighthood. He was a Presiding Judge of the Wales and Chester Circuit from 2002 to 2005. On 12 January 2010, Pitchford became a Lord Justice of Appeal, and was subsequently appointed to the Privy Council.[2]
He was appointed to chair the Undercover Policing Inquiry, which was announced by Theresa May, the Home Secretary on 12 March 2015.[3]
He announced that he would step down from the Inquiry in May 2017 following the diagnosis of motor neurone disease,[4] and he died in October 2017.[5]