In 1971 , following in the steps of his father , Croom-Johnson was appointed a Justice of the High Court , assigned to the Queen 's Bench Division and receiving the customary knighthood . He presided over several high-profile criminal trials . In 1977 he tried the IRA leader Vincent Donnelly for carrying out the West Ham station attack . In 1982 he tried the Soviet spy Hugh Hambleton . In 1983 he tried the police officers who shot Stephen Waldorf and the serial killer Dennis Nilsen . From 1978 to 1982 he chaired the Report of the Tribunal of Inquiry on the Crown Agents . He was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1984 and was sworn of the Privy Council . He retired from the bench in 1989
West Ham station attack
West Ham station attack
David Croom-Johnson