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Factual: Life Stories

True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives.

Outlook: 18/08/2010

18/08/2010

BBC World Service - Outlook, 18/08/2010

The extraordinary life of the lawyer defending former Liberian president Charles Taylor.

Courtenay Griffiths
Courtenay Griffiths QC is a successful defence lawyer, who usually appears in courts in England and Wales. But at the moment, he's defending the former Liberian President Charles Taylor at his war crimes trial in the Hague. 

During his thirty year career as a barrister, Courtenay Griffiths has defended many high profile and controversial figures, from members of the IRA to a man wrongly accused of killing Damilola Taylor, a young black boy who died on a housing estate in London 10 years ago.  

Courtenay comes from a large family. He's the second youngest of a family of eight boys and one girl. He was born in Kingston, Jamaica and then the whole family emigrated to the UK in 1961, when Courtenay was 5 years old. 

He tells Matthew Bannister how early experiences of racism have shaped his rise to become such a successful defence lawyer.

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