John Saunders (English judge)

Sir John Henry Boulton Saunders(born 15 March 1949), formerly styledThe Hon. Mr Justice Saunders,is a retiredHigh Court Judgeof theKing's Bench Division.

Saunders wascalled to the barin 1972 and acted as a prosecutor for theDepartment of Health and Social Securitythroughout the 1980s.He was aRecorderbetween 1990 and 2004 and became aQueen's Counselin 1991.

In 2004, Saunders was appointed a full-timecircuit judgeas well as taking the honorary appointment of Recorder of Birmingham (the most senior judge atBirmingham Crown Court) and in April 2007 was appointed to theHigh Court benchand received the customaryknighthood.

Notable cases

Parliamentary expenses scandal

In 2010–11, Saunders became known as the judge who presided over the trials and sentencing of several former MPs and peers in connection with theParliamentary expenses scandal.He gave the judgment at first instance which was affirmed in both theCourt of AppealandSupreme CourtinR v Chaytorand passed sentences in excess of 12 months' imprisonment on MPsDavid Chaytor,Elliot Morley,Jim DevineandEric Illsleyand on Tory peersLord Taylor of WarwickandLord Hanningfield.During these cases he was noted for strongly criticising the leaders of all three major parties for attacking the defendant MPs' use of legal aid and attempted reliance upon Parliamentary privilege during the2010 election campaign,and for requiringLord Sugarto remove atweetcommenting on the ongoing proceedings.

2011 riots

On 17 April 2012, Saunders sentenced Darrel Desuze to detention for a term of eight years for themanslaughter of Richard Mannington Bowesduring the2011 England riotsand his mother Lavinia Desuze to imprisonment for eighteen months forperverting the course of justiceafter she destroyed clothing worn by her son on the day of the offence.

Newspaper hacking

In late 2013 and the first half of 2014, Saunders was the judge in charge of the high-profile 'hacking trial' that arose out of theNews International phone hacking scandal.At the start of the trial, Saunders noted that "The defendants are on trial but British justice is also on trial", and cautioned against the significant comment on the case that had been made online:

There has been a great deal of publicity about this case, perhaps an unprecedented amount. The internet is generally not controlled and often fuelled by opinion and speculation, a great deal of information is imparted and received by people through Facebook and Twitter. A significant amount of publicity has been inaccurate and misleading... offensive and demeaning to some of the defendants. A lot is ill-informed and most of it is abusive.

Towards the end of the trial, Saunders issued a public request for public figures, in particular politicians, to avoid commenting on the trial until it had reached its conclusion.His intervention came afterPrime MinisterDavid Cameronhad issued a public apology for employingAndy Coulsonas his director of communications following his being found guilty of conspiracy to hack phones, but while the jury were still considering other verdicts against Coulson and other defendants.

Manchester Arena Inquiry

In 2019 Saunders was the presiding coroner over the deaths caused by theManchester Arena bombing.Following his recommendation, the Home Secretary established apublic inquiryinto the incident under his chairmanship. The first report was issued on 17 June 2021, and the second report was issued on 2 February 2023.