Editing John Kay (judge)

{{Short description|British judge}}
{{Other people|John Kay|John Kay (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = Sir John Kay
| honorific-suffix    = 
| image               = Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom (St. Edward's Crown).svg
| caption             = <small>[[Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom]]</small>
| order               = 
| office              = [[Lord Justice of Appeal]]
| term_start          = 2000
| term_end            = 2004
| nominator           = 
| appointer           = 
| office2             = [[High Court judge (England and Wales)|Justice of the High Court]]
| term_start2         = 1992
| term_end2           = 2000
| nominator2          = 
| appointer2          = 
| predecessor2        = 
| successor2          = 
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1943|9|13|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Sidcup]], [[Middlesex]], England
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2004|7|2|1943|9|13|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[South Bank]], Greater London, England
| nationality         = [[British people|British]]
| children            = 3 (including [[Ben Kay]] and [[Amanda Yip]])
| alma_mater          = [[Christ's College, Cambridge]]
| monarch             = [[Elizabeth II]]
| spouse              = Jennifer Ann Kay
| resting_place       = [[St Helen's Church, Sefton|Sefton Parish Churchyard]], [[Sefton, Merseyside]]
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}

'''Sir John William Kay''' [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|PC]] (13 September 1943 – 2 July 2004) was a British judge who served as Lord Justice of Appeal, being a member of the [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales]] from 2000 until his death.<ref>{{cite news|title=Privy Council Appointments |url=http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page2813.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040102051827/http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page2813.asp |archive-date= 2 January 2004 |publisher=[[10 Downing Street#Office of the Prime Minister|number10.gov.uk]] |date=19 May 2000 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Career==
After being called to the bar in 1968 following a brief stint as a schoolteacher, he became a [[King's Counsel|Queen's Counsel]] in 1984 and was named to the [[High Court of Justice of England and Wales]] in 1992.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Kay, Rt Hon. Sir John (William), (13 Sept. 1943–2 July 2004), a Lord Justice of Appeal, since 2000 |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-22653 |url-access=subscription |access-date=25 September 2022 |website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO |year=2007 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U22653|isbn=978-0-19-954089-1 }}</ref>

On the Court of Appeal he upheld the conviction of mass murderer [[Jeremy Bamber]] in 2002, perhaps his most celebrated case. He subsequently overturned the murder conviction of [[Sally Clark]], accused of killing her two young sons, and dismissed the posthumous appeal in the name of the executed [[Ruth Ellis]] on largely technical grounds.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=6 July 2004 |title=Obituary: Sir John Kay |url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/jul/07/guardianobituaries |access-date=25 September 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Growing up near [[Liverpool]], he was educated at [[Denstone College]] and subsequently studied [[mathematics]] at [[Christ's College, Cambridge]] before switching to law. A keen [[Rugby union|rugby]] enthusiast he played for [[Waterloo R.F.C.|Waterloo Rugby Club]] in his youth and later became club president between 1995 and 1997. He married Jennifer Kay in 1966, when he had two daughters and a son. [[Ben Kay|Ben]], who was part of the victorious [[2003 Rugby World Cup]] squad. His daughter [[Amanda Yip|Amanda]] was appointed to the High Court in 2017.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sir John Kay |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1466350/Sir-John-Kay.html |access-date=25 September 2022 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk|date=7 July 2004 }}</ref>

Kay passed away on 2 July 2004 in [[London]], following a heart attack. He was [[Cremation|cremated]] and buried at [[St Helen's Church, Sefton|Sefton Parish Churchyard]] in [[Sefton, Merseyside]].<ref name=":1" />

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, John}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:English barristers]]
[[Category:20th-century English judges]]
[[Category:English King's Counsel]]
[[Category:Queen's Bench Division judges]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Lord justices of appeal]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People educated at Denstone College]]
[[Category:People from Crosby, Merseyside]]
[[Category:20th-century King's Counsel]]
[[Category:Waterloo F.C. players]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Liverpool]]
[[Category:Place of death missing]]
[[Category:Members of Gray's Inn]]
[[Category:21st-century English judges]]
[[Category:English rugby union players]]