Obituary: Lord Hutton became NI’s top judge at a time IRA were slaughtering his colleagues

Lord Hutton (whose full Christian names were James Brian Edward) had been the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland from 1988 until 1997, and played a pivotal role in many Troubles cases.

The Belfast-born scholar went to Oxford University and Queen’s University Belfast, then qualified as a barrister, and was reupted to be a workaholic.

A death notice for him on the Funeral Times website notes that he “died peacefully”, and says simply that his funeral is private.

However it goes on to add that “a thanksgiving service will be held at a later date” (but does not specify exactly when).

He was understood to be aged 89.

The Times of London records that he was born in Belfast in 1931 the son of a railway executive and a Presbyterian minister’s daughter.

Among his initial Troubles cases was the prosecution of Bernadette Devlin in 1969 following the Bogside riots in Londonderry.

He also represented British soldiers at the Widgery inquiry into Bloody Sunday.

As a judge, he oversaw Diplock trials of suspected paramilitaries, and sentenced Provo-turned-INLA boss Dominic McGlinchy to a life sentence (though this was later overturned).

Writing in The Spectator in 2004, conservative commentator Peter Oborne said he was noted for “the caution of his judgments”.

He went on to say: “One leading politician from the province, himself extremely knowledgeable about the law, implies that Lord Hutton carries baggage, claiming that the Ulster-born law lord ‘has never forgiven or forgotten the Good Friday agreement’.

“But few people seriously doubt Hutton’s fairness or independence. Though a dour Presbyterian, there were spectacular acquittals of some very grisly IRA terrorist suspects when he was a judge in the Diplock era.”

The Times notes that during his career in Belfast, five of his judicial colleagues were murdered.

It also says his name appeared on an IRA hit list discovered by the RUC in 1996, including address details and car registrations; it also reports that at one stage he moved his family to Scotland after learning that the car which took his daughters to school each day was being watched.

Despite his prominence in the judiciary, he is perhaps best known for his 2004 report into the death of government scientist David Kelly the previous year - a death that was linked to the invasion of Iraq.

Weapons expert Dr Kelly had been the source of a news story which claimed the government had exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, and was later found dead after being outed as the source.

Lord Hutton concluded that he had killed himself, not been murdered as some rumours had it.

The Times describes Lord Hutton as “a deeply religious man” who prayed nightly.

His death notice on Funeral Times says he was “beloved husband of Lindy and loving father of Louise and Helen, grandfather of Arthur and Emma, and Michael, Faith and Jemima, and stepfather of James, Beazie and Hugo”.

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Alistair Bushe