Frederick Geoffrey Lawrence

Sir Frederick Geoffrey Lawrence (5 April 1902 – 3 February 1967) was a British lawyer, High Court Judge, Chairman of the Bar Council and Chairman of the National Incomes Commission. He first came to prominence when he defended Dr John Bodkin Adams in 1957 on a charge of the murder of Mrs Edith Alice Morrell, the first murder case he handled. Prejudicial press coverage of the case prior to the trial suggested Adams was guilty and that the verdict would be a foregone conclusion, but Lawrence successfully secured an acquittal. Adams, if convicted, might have been hanged, had he also been found guilty on a second murder indictment that had been brought. Devlin at the time, and later investigation, suggested Adams was acquitted in part due to inadequate prosecution preparations and also due to the lack of strong and credible evidence.