James Goss (judge)
{{Short description|British judge (born 1953)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable
| name = Mr Justice Goss
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Mr Justice Goss.png
| imagesize =
| caption = Goss in 2014
| office = Justice of the High Court
| term_start = 1 October 2014
| term_end =
| nominator = Chris Grayling
| appointer = Elizabeth II
| predecessor = Mr Justice Royce
| successor =
| office2 =
| term_start2 =
| term_end2 =
| birth_name = James Richard William Goss
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|05|12|df=y}}
| birth_place =
| nationality =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| spouse =
| children =
| residence =
| education = Charterhouse School
| alma_mater = University College, Durham
| occupation = Judge
| profession = Barrister
}}
Sir James Richard William Goss (born 12 May 1953), styled The Hon. Mr Justice Goss, is a judge of the High Court of England and Wales, assigned to the King's Bench Division. He was previously a Queen's Counsel, specialising in criminal law.
Early life and education
James Richard William Goss was born on 12 May 1953 to judge William Alan Belcher Goss and his wife Yvonne. He was educated at Charterhouse School, an independent boarding school in Surrey. Goss studied at Durham University, where he was a member of University College,{{cite news |url=http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today/profile/19249/James-Richard-William-GOSS |title=James Richard William Goss – People of Today |work=Debretts |access-date=8 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111063512/http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today/profile/19249/James-Richard-William-GOSS |archive-date=11 November 2014}} and graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. He was later appointed an honorary fellow of Durham Law School.{{cite news |url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/directory/profile/?id=17787 |title=Staff Profile: The Hon Mr Justice Goss, KC |access-date=21 August 2023}} and is the patron of the Mr Justice Goss University College Law Prize, awarded to first-year undergraduate students.{{cite web |url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/departments/academic/law/undergraduate-study/undergraduate-funding-opportunities/first-year-undergraduate-prizes/ |title=First-Year Undergraduate Prizes |publisher=Durham Law School |access-date=21 August 2023}}
Legal career
Goss was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1975. He specialised in criminal law,{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/21/mr-justice-goss-lucy-letby-judge-big-decisions |title=Mr Justice Goss: Lucy Letby judge is used to making big decisions |date=21 August 2023 |last1=Siddique |first1=Haroon |last2=Halliday |first2=Josh |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=21 August 2023}} practising from No 6, a barristers' chambers in Leeds, where he was head of chambers.{{cite web |url=https://www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk/about/history/ |title=History |publisher=Park Square Barristers |access-date=21 August 2023}} He was a recorder from 1994 to 2009{{London Gazette |date=10 February 1994 |issue=53584 |page=2040}} and was appointed Queen's Counsel on 8 April 1997.{{London Gazette |date=15 April 1997 |issue=54736 |page=4475}}
He was appointed a legal member of the Mental Health Tribunal in 2003 and of the Restricted Patients Panel in 2006. Goss became a circuit judge on the North Eastern Circuit on 14 December 2009.{{London Gazette |date=17 December 2009 |issue=59273 |page=21879}} He served as a senior circuit judge and honorary recorder of Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 2011 to 2014.{{cite news|url=https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/9122685.senior-crown-court-justice-leaves-city-after-a-series-of-high-profile-trials/|title=Senior crown court justice leaves city after a series of high-profile trials|last=Wright|first=Steve|work=Telegraph & Argus|date=6 July 2011|access-date=8 December 2014}}
On 1 October 2014, Goss became a judge of the High Court of Justice, succeeding Mr Justice Royce. He was assigned to the Queen's Bench Division{{cite news |url=http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/announcements/appointment-of-a-high-court-judge-goss/ |title=Appointment of a High Court Judge: Goss |publisher=Courts and Tribunals Judiciary |date=19 May 2014 |access-date=8 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527044808/http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/announcements/appointment-of-a-high-court-judge-goss/ |archive-date=27 May 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.no6.co.uk/pages/news?1A2F7971-8A25-4CFE-B35F-F838DED84E56 |title=HHJ James Goss QC |publisher=No 6 |date=19 May 2014 |access-date=8 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021164524/http://www.no6.co.uk/pages/news?1A2F7971-8A25-4CFE-B35F-F838DED84E56 |archive-date=21 October 2014}} and received the customary appointment as a knight bachelor.{{London Gazette |date=10 November 2014 |issue=61042 |page=21650}}
=Notable cases=
In February 2017, Goss tried a case alone after dismissing the jury in a "crash-for-cash" case due to jury tampering. This was the second time such a decision had been taken under statutory provisions introduced in 2007.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/22/judge-uses-rare-legal-power-dismiss-jury-take-case-jurors-offered/ |title=Judge in 'crash for cash case' dismisses jury and takes case on himself after jurors were offered bribes outside the courtroom |last=Sabur |first=Rozina |date=22 February 2017 |newspaper=The Telegraph |access-date=21 August 2023}}
Goss presided over the trial of Carl Beech in 2019, sentencing him upon conviction to 18 years' imprisonment for fabricating allegations of child rape and murder.{{cite web |last=Murphy |first=Simon |title=Carl Beech, VIP paedophile ring accuser, jailed for 18 years |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/26/carl-beech-vip-paedophile-ring-accuser-jailed-for-18-years |newspaper=The Guardian |date=26 July 2019 |access-date=10 August 2023}}
Between October 2022 and August 2023, Goss presided over the trial of Lucy Letby, believed to be the longest murder trial in British legal history.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-66545358 |title=Nurse Lucy Letby to be sentenced for murdering seven babies |date=21 August 2023 |work=BBC News |access-date=21 August 2023}} On 21 August 2023 he sentenced Letby to life imprisonment with a whole-life order on seven charges of murder and the seven of attempted murder (including two counts of attempted murder against one child), totalling 14 whole life orders.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-66569311 |title='Cruel, calculated' Lucy Letby to spend rest of life in prison |date=21 August 2023 |work=BBC News |last1=Moritz |first1=Judith |last2=O'Donoghue |first2=Daniel |last3=Hirst |first3=Lauren |last4=Rimmer |first4=Monica |access-date=21 August 2023}} Letby consequently became one of the most prolific convicted murderers in British legal history, following a trial which lasted nearly a year. By volume of whole life orders imposed, her sentence is the most severe sentence in England and Wales since the abolition of the death penalty.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}
References
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{{Queen's Bench Division of England & Wales}}
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Category:People educated at Charterhouse School
Category:Alumni of University College, Durham
Category:Members of the Inner Temple