Someone called "Lord Chief Justice Thompson" said that Lord Harley could wear ribbons on his barrister's gown ... Except, there is no Lord Chief Justice Thompson and Lord Harley is not a barrister ... The transcript has emerged in the "Harry Potter" case ... Eccentricities galore
Lord Harley of counsel
LAST year a Crown Court judge in Cardiff chastised a solicitor advocate for "looking like something out of Harry Potter".
Judge David Wynn Morgan questioned why "Dr" Alan Blacker, aka "Lord Harley", was wearing ribbons and other decorations on his gown in court.
At the time the issue caused a bit of excitement, on an otherwise slow news week.
Blacker (or "Lord Harley") was accused of over-egging his CV, in which he described himself as "Dr. The Rt. Hon. The Lord Harley of Counsel KGCStJ DPhil".
His bio comprised 20 pages of elaborate claims, many of which, according to The Independent, had a Walter Mitty quality.
Anyway, the transcript of the proceedings in which Judge Morgan questioned Lord Harley's bona fides has emerged, and is doing the rounds.
Morgan thought that Harley's dress was interfering with "the dignity of the proceedings". There's also an interesting exchange about solicitors' calling themselves "senior counsel" and their rights of audience.
Here's the dotty transcript ...