Desmond Fennell (judge)

{{Short description|British barrister and judge}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox person

| honorific_prefix = Sir

| name = Desmond Fennell

| honorific_suffix = OBE

| image = Desmond Fennell (judge).png

| caption = Fennell in 1990

| birth_name = John Desmond Augustine Fennell

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|9|17|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Lincoln, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2011|6|29|1933|9|17|df=yes}}

| occupation = Barrister and judge

| module =

{{Infobox officeholder | embed = yes

| office = High Court Judge
Queen's Bench Division

| term_start = 1990

| term_end = 1992

}}

}}

Sir John Desmond Augustine Fennell OBE (17 September 1933 – 29 June 2011) was a British barrister and judge who chaired the public inquiry into the 1987 King's Cross fire. He was a High Court judge from 1990 to 1992, when he was forced to retire as a result of a stroke.{{Cite web|title=Fennell, Hon. Sir (John) Desmond (Augustine), (17 Sept. 1933–29 June 2011), a Judge of the High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, 1990–92|url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-15609|access-date=2021-12-09|website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO|year=2007|language=en|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U15609|isbn=978-0-19-954089-1}}{{Cite news|title=Sir Desmond Fennell|newspaper=The Times|language=en|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/sir-desmond-fennell-kprjg562qgc|access-date=9 December 2021|issn=0140-0460}}{{Cite web|title=Sir Desmond Fennell|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/law-obituaries/8618848/Sir-Desmond-Fennell.html|access-date=9 December 2021|website=Daily Telegraph|date=5 July 2011 }}

Fennell was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1982 New Year Honours "for political service in Wessex",{{cite web |title=1982 New Year Honours |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/48837/page/10 |website=The London Gazette}} and knighted in 1990.{{Cite web|title=Sir Desmond Fennell|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/law-obituaries/8618848/Sir-Desmond-Fennell.html|access-date=9 December 2021|website=Daily Telegraph|date=5 July 2011 }}