Criminal law judge Paul Carney dies

Paul Carney, the former criminal law judge who presided over some of the most high profile and controversial cases in recent decades, died yesterday at the age of 72 after a short illness.

Mr Justice Carney, appointed to the High Court in 1991 and retired last April.

Justice Nicholas Kearns, President of the High Court, described his death as a sad loss for his family and for the judiciary. “He was the pre-eminent criminal law judge in the Central Criminal Court in our time, presiding in a long career over well more than a hundred murder and rape trials. He did so with exemplary fairness throughout.”