# Richard Rampton > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Richard_Rampton > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Richard_Rampton.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Rampton > Source revision: 1320976224 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British libel lawyer (1941–2023)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Use British English|date=October 2020}} '''Richard Rampton''' [KC](/source/King's_Counsel) (8 January 1941 – 23 December 2023) was a [British libel](/source/English_defamation_law) lawyer. He was involved in several high-profile cases including ''[Irving v. Penguin Books and Lipstadt](/source/Irving_v._Penguin_Books_and_Lipstadt)'', where he defended [Deborah Lipstadt](/source/Deborah_Lipstadt) and [Penguin Books](/source/Penguin_Books) against [David Irving](/source/David_Irving).{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/apr/19/highereducation.students|title=Irving to speak at Oxford Union|date=19 April 2004|work=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)|accessdate=21 January 2010 | location=London | first=Will | last=Woodward}} ==Early life and education== {{Unreferencedsect|date=May 2025}} Rampton was born in [Norwich](/source/Norwich) on 8 January 1941, the eldest son of businessman and philanthropist [Tony Rampton](/source/Tony_Rampton_(businessman)) and his wife Joan (nee Shanks).{{Cite web |last=Times |first=The |date=2024-01-11 |title=Richard Rampton KC obituary |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/richard-rampton-bbpqxstdb |access-date=2025-11-07 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}} He was educated at [Bryanston School](/source/Bryanston_School) and read [Classics](/source/Classics) at [The Queen's College, Oxford](/source/The_Queen's_College%2C_Oxford). ==Career== Richard Rampton was [called to the Bar](/source/called_to_the_Bar) in November 1965 ([Inner Temple](/source/Inner_Temple)) and was appointed a QC ([Queen's Counsel](/source/Queen's_Counsel)) in 1987.{{cn|date=May 2025}} In ''[Irving v. Penguin Books and Lipstadt](/source/Irving_v._Penguin_Books_and_Lipstadt)'', he represented Deborah Lipstadt and her publisher against false accusations of [libel](/source/libel) after she said that Irving was a [Holocaust denier](/source/Holocaust_denial) in her book ''[Denying the Holocaust](/source/Denying_the_Holocaust)'' (1993). The trial was dramatised in the film [Denial](/source/Denial_(2016_film)) in which Rampton was played by [Tom Wilkinson](/source/Tom_Wilkinson). Rampton also represented [McDonald's](/source/McDonald's) in the [McLibel case](/source/McLibel_case), where the company sued two members of the [London Greenpeace](/source/London_Greenpeace) environmental campaigning group.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/mclibel-two-in-new-court-challenge-1045847.html|title= McLibel two in new court challenge |work=[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)|date = 9 January 1999|accessdate=21 January 2010 | location=London | first=Sarah | last=Wilson}} Rampton's earlier cases include [Andrew Neil](/source/Andrew_Neil) (editor of ''[The Sunday Times](/source/The_Sunday_Times)'') vs [Peregrine Worsthorne](/source/Peregrine_Worsthorne), [Lord Aldington](/source/Toby_Low%2C_1st_Baron_Aldington) vs [Count Nikolai Tolstoy](/source/Nikolai_Tolstoy) and [Gillian Taylforth](/source/Gillian_Taylforth) vs ''[News of the World](/source/News_of_the_World)''. He also successfully represented politician [George Galloway](/source/George_Galloway) against ''[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)'' over allegations that he took £375,000 from [Saddam Hussein](/source/Saddam_Hussein)'s Iraqi regime. He represented [Associated Newspapers Group](/source/Associated_Newspapers_Group) plc in Lucas-Box v News Group Newspapers Ltd; Lucas-Box v Associated Newspapers Group plc and others. This case produced the "Lucas-Box meaning" whereby under modern libel practice a defendant must set out in his/her statement of case the defamatory meaning that he/she seeks to prove to be essentially or [substantially true](/source/Substantial_truth).[1986] 1 WLR 147).{{cite web | url=http://swarb.co.uk/lucas-box-v-news-group-newspapers-ltd-polly-peck-holdings-plc-v-trelford-viscount-de-lisle-v-times-newspapers-ltd-ca-1986/ | title=Lucas-Box v News Group Newspapers Ltd; Polly Peck (Holdings) Plc v Trelford, Viscount De L'Isle v Times Newspapers Ltd; CA 1986 | publisher=swarb.co.uk| date=30 June 2015 | accessdate=25 December 2016}} ==Personal life== Rampton married his childhood sweetheart Carolyn Clarke in 1963. They had two sons and one daughter.[https://www.theguardian.com/law/2024/jan/01/richard-rampton-obituary Richard Rampton obituary, Owen Bowcott, The Guardian, published 1 January 2024] ==Death== Rampton died on 23 December 2023, at the age of 82.{{cite news |title=Richard Rampton, legendary libel lawyer who took on the Holocaust denier David Irving – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2023/12/29/richard-rampton-libel-lawyer-irving-lipstadt-holocaust/ |access-date=30 December 2023 |publisher=The Telegraph |date=29 December 2023}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.hdot.org/ Holocaust denial on trial] {{DEFAULTSORT:Rampton, Richard}} Category:1941 births Category:2023 deaths Category:Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford Category:English barristers Category:English King's Counsel Category:Members of the Middle Temple Category:People educated at Bryanston School Category:20th-century King's Counsel Category:21st-century King's Counsel Category:People from Norwich --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Richard Rampton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Rampton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Rampton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.