Mervyn Griffith-Jones

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John Mervyn Guthrie Griffith-Jones, CBE MC QC (1 July 1909 - 13 July 1979)^[1] was a British Judge and former barrister.

He is most famous for leading the prosecution of Penguin Books in the obscenity trial around the publication of D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover in 1960. His much quoted remark about whether the novel was something "you would wish your wife or servants to read" has entered popular culture and is often cited as representing the extent to which the British 'Establishment' had fallen out of touch with popular opinion at the time.^[2] He failed to convince the jury at the Chatterley trial and the publishers were acquitted.

Griffith-Jones was called to the Bar in 1932. He served with the Coldstream Guards during the Second World War, and was awarded the Military Cross. After the war, he was one of the British prosecuting counsels at the Nuremberg Trials, later gaining a reputation as successful prosecutor in obscenity cases, culminating with his loss at the Chatterley trial.

Griffith-Jones was a councillor in Westminster City Council from 1948 - 1954. He became a judge in 1964. He presided over criminal cases at the Old Bailey as the Common Serjeant of London.

[edit] Portrayal in popular culture

Mervyn Griffith-Jones has been portrayed by the following actors in film, television and theater productions;^[3]

• Jonathan Newth in the 1984 British film Champions
• Daniel Massey in the 1989 British film Scandal
• Pip Torrens in the 2006 British television production The Chatterley Affair
• Paul Hickey in the 2006 British television docudrama Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial

[edit] References