Judge

Born: January 12, 1931;

Died: August 12, 2016

SIR Swinton Thomas, who has died aged 85, was a Glasgow-born judge who became best-known around the UK as adjudicator between the government's "Big Brother" rights to spy on its own people and the latter's right to privacy. His title at that time, one he was not particularly fond of, was Interception of Communications Commissioner, a UK government appointment. In that role, during his formal retirement as a judge, he famously called for an end to the so-called Wilson Doctrine.

Drawn up in 1966 by then Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson, the doctrine exempted MPs and House of Lords peers from the kind of spying that could legally apply to the rest of us, such as the interception of phone calls and later emails. "Possible terrorist threat" became the criterion but for the 99.9 per cent of us who are not terrorists, it was something of a step too far, and despite Sir Swinton's honourable efforts, MPs and Lords of the Realm remain exempt - "above the law," as he himself put it.

In 2006, when Sir Swinton came out with his report suggesting that MPs and peers should not have greater rights than the people they are supposed to represent, the prime minister Tony Blair swiftly jumped aboard. But after numerous desperate calls from MPs and peers from all parties, Mr Blair disembarked almost as quickly as he got on board.

According to Sir Swinton: “The doctrine means that MPs and peers can engage in serious crime or terrorism without running the risk of being investigated in the same way as any other member of the public … It is fundamental to the constitution of this country that no one is above the law or is seen to be above the law. But in this instance, MPs and peers are anything but equal with the rest of the citizens of this country and are above the law … In my view the doctrine flies in the face of our constitution and is wrong.’’

In 2014, Sir Swinton, by then totally retired, weighed in privately on the case of Edward Snowden, a whistle-blowing former employee of the US National Security Agency. He did not support Snowden per se but expressed strong concern over the fact, revealed by Snowden, that US intelligence agencies were sending dossiers on millions of people to Britain, most of them innocent of any wrongdoing but potentially branded for life.

Earlier in his career as a High Court judge, Sir Swinton had been involved in many court cases involving IRA bomb attacks in the UK. For a time, he had 24-hour police security, with panic buttons installed around his home and a mirror device to check under his car for bombs. It was intrusive but he said it had its plus side, as he never had trouble parking outside his club, the Garrick on London's Covent Garden, thanks to his police escort. He was a leading light in the Garrick Club's bridge group.

In 1986, he became something of a darling of horse racing punters when he supported, to an extent, the punters' favourite jockey of the time, the great Lester Piggott. Piggott had been charged with tax fraud, allegedly avoiding tax on the money he kept "under his pillow," and had been allowed to remain free on almost £1mn bail.

Judge Thomas halved that sum, ordered Piggott's passport to be returned and reduced the visits he had to make to Newmarket police. Since Lester Piggott was and probably remains more popular than the taxman, it was a decision greeted with some acclaim by the general public.

Swinton Barclay Thomas was born in Glasgow on January 12, 1931, to Brigadier William Thomas and his wife Mary. The brigadier had served with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in both world wars, on the western front during the Great War and in Burma in the Second World War.

Swinton attended Ampleforth College, North Yorkshire, an independent school run by the Benedictine monks, before doing his national service with his father's old regiment, the Cameronians. After studying law at Lincoln College, Oxford, he was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1955, took silk in 1975, was appointed a High Court judge and eventually Lord Justice of Appeal.

A devout Roman Catholic, worshipping at Our Lady of Victories in Kensington, London, he became a leading Roman Catholic layman. He served as vice-chairman of the Archbishop of Westminster’s Working Party on Child Protection, a nine-member committee set up in 2000, and served as chairman of the Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain.

During the 1980s, he presided over many cases involving the IRA when they were at the peak of their terrorism activity. One of these was the 1988 trial of the Winchester Three, alleged IRA members jailed by Sir Swinton for 25 years for conspiring to kill the Northern Ireland secretary Tom King. Two years later, an Appeal Court overturned the conviction saying the trial had been prejudiced by remarks made by Mr King in the House of Commons.

In 1998, Sir Swinton was part of a Court Appeal who overturned the 1987 conviction of Danny McNamee over the notorious 1982 IRA bombing in Hyde Park which killed four members of the Household Cavalry and, unforgettable from the photos at the time, seven cavalry horses.

Sir Swinton was on holiday in one of his favourite places, Amalfi on Italy's Gulf of Salerno, when he passed away. Friends said it seemed fitting that, as a Scot, he died in a town whose patron saint is Saint Andrew.

Sir Swinton Thomas is survived by his wife Angela (née Wright, but still holding the title Lady Hope from her earlier marriage to Sir Anthony Cope), their son Dominic and daughter Melissa.

PHIL DAVISON