{{Short description|English barrister and judge (born 1961)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021 }} {{Use British English|date=April 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Mark Lucraft | honorific_prefix = His Honour Judge | honorific_suffix = KC | image = | image_size = | office = Recorder of London | term_start = 2020 | monarch = Elizabeth II<br/>Charles III | predecessor = Sir Nicholas Hilliard | office1 = Chief Coroner of England and Wales | term_start1 = 2016 | term_end1 = 2020 | predecessor1 = Sir Peter Thornton | successor1 = Thomas Teague | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1961|12|28}} | alma_mater = University of Kent | spouse = | profession = Barrister-at-law }} '''Mark Lucraft''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KC}} (born 28 December 1961) is an English barrister and judge.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lucraft, Mark |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/search?q=Mark+Lucraft&searchBtn=Search&isQuickSearch=true |website=WHO'S WHO 2025 |access-date=16 July 2025 |archive-date= |archive-url= }}</ref>
Lucraft was appointed Recorder of London in 2020, the most senior Circuit Judge at the Old Bailey and previously served as Chief Coroner of England and Wales from 2016 to 2020.
==Biography== The son of the Revd Cyril Lucraft, a United Reform Church minister, he was educated at Wood Green School, a state comprehensive school in the market town of Witney, Oxfordshire, before going up to the University of Kent, where he read Law. Lucraft graduated as BA in 1983.<ref name="KLSN" />
Luucraft was called to the Bar in 1984.<ref name="KLSN" /> Appointed Recorder in 2003,<ref name="KLSN" /> he took silk (QC) in 2006,<ref name="KLSN" /> becoming a full-time judge in 2012<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv1Z0KnR-t4 |title=A Day in the Life - HHJ Lucraft KC |date=26 September 2024 |publisher=UK Judiciary |access-date=17 November 2024 |via=YouTube}}</ref> and was a Senior Circuit Judge at the Central Criminal Court ("Old Bailey") from 2015, where he was appointed as Resident Judge in April 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Resident Judges |url=https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/who-are-the-judiciary/leadership-judges/resident-judges/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929114130/https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/who-are-the-judiciary/leadership-judges/resident-judges/ |archive-date=29 September 2022 |website=Courts and Tribunals Judiciary |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Prominent cases include a life sentence in 2024 for Fiona Beal, who murdered her partner Nicholas Billingham in 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-04-19 |title=Northampton teacher admits killing partner buried in garden |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-68760747 |access-date=2024-11-17 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
From 2016 to 2020, Lucraft was Chief Coroner of England and Wales, while continuing as an Old Bailey judge.<ref name="OCC">{{cite web |title=Office of the Chief Coroner |url=https://www.judiciary.uk/related-offices-and-bodies/office-chief-coroner/ |publisher=UK Courts and Tribunals Judiciary |access-date=12 April 2021 |date=8 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="KLSN">{{cite web |title=Law School alumnus is new Chief Coroner of England and Wales |url=https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/law-news/2016/11/23/law-school-alumnus-is-new-chief-coroner-of-england-and-wales/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203225035/https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/law-news/2016/11/23/law-school-alumnus-is-new-chief-coroner-of-england-and-wales/ |website=Kent Law School News |publisher=University of Kent |archive-date=2020-02-03 |date=23 November 2016}}</ref> As Chief Coroner, he presided over the inquests into the 2017 Westminster attack,<ref>{{cite news |title=Westminster attacker lawfully killed by minister's bodyguard, jury finds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/12/westminster-bridge-attack-khalid-masood-lawfully-killed-inquest-concludes |access-date=12 April 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=12 October 2018 }}</ref> the 2017 London Bridge and Borough Market attack,<ref>{{cite web |title=London Bridge Inquests |url=https://londonbridgeinquests.independent.gov.uk/ |access-date=12 April 2021}}</ref> and the 2019 London Bridge stabbings.<ref name="Dodd">{{cite news |last1=Dodd |first1=Vikram |title=Security services and police to face questions over London Bridge attacker |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/12/security-services-and-police-to-face-questions-over-london-bridge-attacker |access-date=12 April 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=12 April 2021}}</ref>
In 2020, before relinquishing the role of Chief Coroner, he became Recorder of London, the senior judge at the Old Bailey.<ref name="RoL">{{cite web |title=Recorder of London appointed |date=8 April 2020 |url=https://www.judiciary.uk/announcements/recorder-of-london-appointed/ |access-date=12 April 2021 |publisher=UK Courts and Tribunals Judiciary}}</ref><ref name="BNW">{{cite news |title=Top Old Bailey judge heralds brave new world in criminal justice |url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2020/05/06/top-old-bailey-judge-heralds-brave-new-world-in-criminal-justice/ |access-date=12 April 2021 |work=www.shropshirestar.com |date=6 May 2020 }}</ref> The roles were allowed to overlap due to the pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name="RoL" /> By tradition, the Recorder of London is also appointed High Steward of Southwark,<ref>{{cite web |title=City Officers |url=https://www.liverycommittee.org/about/city-of-london-corporation/city-officers/ |publisher=Livery Committee, City of London |access-date=12 April 2021}}</ref> and Lucraft accordingly occupies this position.<ref name="Guildable">{{cite web |title=Guildable Manor of Southwark - Home Page |url=https://www.guildablemanor.org/ |publisher=Guildable Manor |access-date=12 April 2021}}</ref> In October 2023, he ruled that the name and date of birth of the police officer who shot Chris Kaba could be made public on 30 January 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-10-30 |title=Chris Kaba: Officer charged with murder to be named |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-67259635 |access-date=2023-10-30}}</ref>
Lucraft is the general editor of ''Archbold Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice'', an annual publication for practitioners of criminal law in the Crown Courts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Editorial Team {{!}} Archbold |url=https://www.sweetandmaxwell.co.uk/archbold/editorial-team.aspx |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Sweet & Maxwell}}</ref> He is a Liveryman of the Founders' Company and an Honorary Liveryman of the Curriers' Company.<ref>[https://www.curriers.co.uk/company/aims-and-activities www.curriers.co.uk]</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef | before = Sir Peter Thornton}} {{s-ttl | title = Chief Coroner of England and Wales | years = 2016 to 2020}} {{s-aft | after = Thomas Teague }} {{s-bef | before = Sir Nicholas Hilliard}} {{s-ttl | title= Recorder of London | years = 2020 to present}} {{s-inc}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucraft, Mark}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:People educated at Wood Green School Category:Alumni of the University of Kent Category:English King's Counsel Category:21st-century King's Counsel Category:Circuit judges (England and Wales) Category:Chief Coroners of England and Wales Category:Recorders of London