Fenton Shea Bresler

Background

Fenton S. Bresler was born on August 22, 1929, in Putney, London, United Kingdom. He came from a middle-class Jewish family, who had fled the Polish pogroms and set up clothes shops. The family then moved to Brighton.

Education

Bresler was educated at the local grammar school, the University of Paris, and King's College in London, before being called to the bar in 1951, initially practicing from chambers in Pump Court.

Career

Fenton Bresler had a civil practice and appeared for, among others, the racing driver Stirling Moss in 1981, when he was fined for causing criminal damage after a street altercation. In English law, two prostitutes working from the same premises constitutes a brothel, and in one of Bresler's earliest reported cases, in 1953, he successfully argued that premises divided by a door with a Yale lock did not constitute one.

It was, however, in journalism that he made his reputation. For many years he wrote a legal advice column in 'She,' the women's magazine, and he succeeded the doyen of crime writing, Edgar Lustgarten, on the Sunday Express. Later he became the legal correspondent for the Daily Mail and wrote for other national newspapers. He was also in demand by publishers as a libel reader.

His first book was a guide to everyday legal problems, but of his second, "Strictly Legal," the Times critic wrote: "Here, in a little space is satire, wickedness, learning and pure fun in abundance." This was followed by a companion volume, "Strictly Illegal," but Bresler was delighted when Reprieve, his study of the sometimes arcane decisions by home secretaries, was accepted. It has become a classic in the debate over capital punishment, and Bresler was invited to give a lecture on the subject in the lord chief justice's courtroom.

In 1971 he wrote and appeared in a television series on the great advocate Edward Marshall Hall, and, in October 1975, on another program trying to solve the classic mystery of the killing of Julia Wallace in Liverpool. Her husband's conviction was quashed, not because of any misdirection by the judge, but because the court of appeal felt uneasy; Bresler easily unraveled the complexities of the case. Later he had his own series, Fenton Bresler's Casebook.

His other books provided an eclectic collection, including a number of miscellanies of legal cases. He also wrote a book on Interpol; another on "The Chinese Mafia" (1981); "The Murder of John Lennon" (1989), suggesting CIA involvement; a study of sexual offenses, "Sex And The Law" (1988); and a biography of Georges Simenon (1983).

Regarded as a very hard worker, Bresler helped JD Casswell QC with his autobiography, "A Lance For Liberty;" this was followed by an invitation to write the biography of Lord Goddard, the former lord chief justice (1972).

Achievements

• Fenton Bresler was a successful and versatile barrister who turned himself into a prolific and equally versatile writer, both as a journalist and author of books. He gained public attention by contributing columns on legal advice to various newspapers, such as the Daily Mail and Sunday Express. The popularity of these columns led Bresler to be sought after as a legal correspondent on British television and radio.

Works

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• book

  • Interpol

    (Untold tales of undercover work, conspiracies, and outsta...)

    1992
  • The Mystery of Georges Simenon: A Biography

    (Georges Simenon was the author of five hundred books and ...)

    1983
  • Napoleon III: A Life

    (Prince Louis Napoleon was born with a compelling sense of...)

    1999
  • Law Without a Lawyer

    (A revised edition of the title originally published in 19...)

    1995
  • The 'Daily Telegraph' A-Z Guide to Motoring Law

    (The guide no motorist should be without. Based on his pop...)

    2001
  • The Chinese Mafia: The Most Frightening New Organization In International Crime 1981
  • Beastly Law 1986
  • Sex and The Law 1988
  • Strictly Illegal: a further textbook 1960
  • Strictly Legal. 1958
  • Scales of Justice 1973
  • An Almanac of Murder 1987

Membership

Bresler was a member of the dining club Our Society.

Personality

Fenton was a sociable and approachable man.

Connections

Fenton was married with five children until he left his wife Gina 20 years ago. Some years later, while researching his book on Simenon, he met his male partner Fred who cared for him in his final illness.

ex-wife:

Gina Bresler