AS AT home treading the boards as sitting on the bench, tribute has been paid to a “fearless judge” from Wellesbourne who has died aged 70.
Lord Justice William Davis passed away on Saturday June 7.
Born in 1954, Davis attended Wyggeston Boys’ School in Leicester and studied law at Queen Mary College, London before being called to the bar by Inner Temple in 1975. Practising primarily in criminal and personal injury work, he took silk in 1995.
His journey on the bench began in 1992 when he was appointed as an assistant recorder, becoming a recorder in 1995 and joining the circuit bench in 2008.
During 2009 he was appointed a deputy High Court judge, a senior circuit judge and the honorary recorder of Birmingham, before being promoted to the High Court bench in 2014 and to the Court of Appeal in 2021.
Away from court, Bill as he was known when treading the boards, enjoyed writing and performing in amateur dramatic sketches, appearing at theatres in Leamington and Kenilworth.
This included a role in classic musical Oliver! and playing the part of Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers.
He appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe three times and in 2019 appeared in a performance in Court Number 1 at London’s Old Bailey, playing the role of a judge in a production of My Learned Friends, written by and staring his wife Ginny Davis.
On his performance, he told The Times: “This isn’t acting; I just come in and do what I do on the bench”.
In a statement, the lady chief justice, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, paid tribute to a ‘fearless judge with outstanding expertise in criminal law – always a valuable source of wisdom, experience and good sense – one of the very best criminal judges of his generation’.
She continued: ‘He was, as ever, hard at work right up until the day before his death, with his characteristic good humour and dry wit’. ‘He loved his work; he never had too much of it, and it was never an unwelcome burden for him.
“He will be greatly missed and we share in a collective mourning at the passing of a great judge and a good man.”
Acting comrade Matthew Salisbury, who directed Bill in 60s comedy What the Butler Saw, said: “Bill was a lovely man to work with. For someone who commanded so much respect in his day job he was perfectly happy to play his part in the ranks and his sense of humour always made it a pleasure to be with him.”
