Retired judge from Midhurst is honoured by the King
A retired Deputy High Court Judge and Judge Advocate General, who lives in Midhurst, has been honoured for his services to the judiciary and to charitable causes.
His Honour Jeffrey Blackett was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the King’s New Year Honours list.
"To be given an honour for something I’ve enjoyed so much is the icing on the cake,” he said. “I was very pleased and it was a surprise as I retired as a judge five years ago.”
A trustee for Help For Heroes, he chaired a committee which raised £2.5million through the Help for Heroes Rugby Challenge with two matches held at Twickenham and also an all-star cricket match for the charity at the Kia Oval.
As Rugby Football Union (RFU) President, he and his wife Sally walked 150 miles during a 15 day nationwide tour of 18 geographic Constituent Bodies for the Injured Players Foundation (IPF) as part of the RFU’s official 150th Anniversary celebrations.
He also donated his fee as President of the RFU to the Woodland Trust.
Born and bred in Portsmouth, he went to Portsmouth Grammar School and then spent 31 years in the Royal Navy, during that time training as a barrister, and left the Navy as a commodore and head of the naval legal service in 2004.
He became a senior circuit judge, Deputy High Court Judge and Judge Advocate General, in charge of court martials in the services and ruling on some controversial cases. “They were all controversial really as they involved operations and it was political,” he said. “I enjoyed it very much.”
Although he has officially retired his work continues, including chairing a commonwealth lawyers group on discussions about military law.
Rugby has also played a major part in his life since his school days. He played for the Royal Navy, Hampshire and the United Services Portsmouth Rugby Football Club. He represented the Royal Navy on the Rugby Football Union (RFU) Council and was RFU Disciplinary Officer, officiating in World Cups and in hearings.
He has lived in Midhurst for six years after time at sea and in London and travelling for court martial cases as far as Washington DC, Belize and Cyprus.