Document Request: Daily Telegraph obituary of John Stuart Streeter
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Document Transcription:Obituary in Daily Telegraph 19/12/96
Judge John Streeter
Barrister who refused to allow the loss of his legs to affect his courtroom style
Judge John Streeter, who has died aged 76, refused to compromise his professional behaviour after losing both legs during the Second World War.
Streeter became the senior resident circuit judge of Kent. As a barrister, Streeter would stand for long periods on his tin legs in court, often in great pain, sweat pouring from his forehead. He would never do his advocacy sitting down, and at the end of the day preferred to walk up the stairs to his chambers although there was a perfectly good lift.
A heavily built man with rugged features, Streeter was a thorough and robust counsel, and fearless of judges. His bravery and keen sense of humour inspired respect tempered with affection.
Streeter always knew his court, and would play on its foibles. When before a retired naval officer, he would slip in the odd nautical phrase, and in a plea in mitigation before a Scottish Judge just before Burns night, he concluded that “A man’s a man for a’ that”.
On the bench Streeter was tough when the occasion required, but known above all for his humanity and good sense. He never contracted what some lawyers called “judgitis” (the crotchetiness that characterises so many senior judges). Barristers liked appearing before him; younger ones would often receive helpful tips afterwards in the robing room on how to improve their advocacy.
The son of a Scottish osteopath, John Stuart Streeter was born on May 20, 1920. He was educated at Sherborn, and commissioned as a 19-year-old in the Royal Scots Fusiliers at the outbreak of the Second World War. He was mentioned in dispatches.
In autumn 1944, Streeter, by then an acting major, was due to accompany the second airlift to Arnhem, but, when the air lift was cancelled due to bad weather, he set off overland. The armoured car he was travelling in came under fire from German artillery. Streeter lost both his legs, the one above the knee, the other below, when the vehicle blew up.
Streeter was eventually fitted with artificial decks at Roehampton, and began to read for the bar while still rehabilitating. He was called by Gray’s Inn in 1947 and entered Chambers at Garden Court in the Temple.
His set, which later moved to Queen Elizabeth Buildings and is now at Raymond Building in Gray’s Inn, has contained several notable advocates over the years; among them were his pupil master Reggie Seaton, Jeremy Hutchinson, Victor Durand, Richard Du Cann and Robin Simpson. It is still regarded today as one of the top criminal chambers.
Although Streeter did some defending, his practice was mainly prosecution. He was Counsel to the Post Office on the South Eastern Circuit for two years from 1957, and in 1959 was appointed Treasury Council to the old County of London Sessions (which is now Inner London Crown Court). As such he held the rank of a Silk and was called on by the attorney general to do the most difficult prosecutions at that court.
Streeter served as a permanent deputy chairman of the Kent Quarter Sessions for four years from 1967, and then as chairman until the introduction of the Crown Court system in 1972, when he was appointed senior circuit judge.
He took a keen interest in the design of the new Maidstone Crown Court, ensuring that the various parties would be kept appropriately separate and be properly catered for. The new building is also notable for its metal sculpture of Kent’s equine symbol, which Streeter encouraged local judges, recorders and magistrates to pay for.
Streeter was for many years an active supporter of the Sherborne House probation centre, which rehabilitates young offenders; he became president in 1993. He took a keen interest in his old school and was president of the Old Shirburnian Society from 1990.
Streeter swim regularly in the pool at his home in Sissinghurst and was an active gardener.
He married, in 1956, Nancy Richardson; they had a son and two daughters.
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