Judith Ablett-Kerr

Ablett-Kerr was born and raised in Wales. Her mother Bessie died when she was eight, and her father Henry raised Ablett-Kerr and her brother. Her father was a lay Baptist preacher and a Conservative politician. Ablett-Kerr joined the Welsh Young Conservatives as a teenager and became the branch chair at the age of 15. She was also a national debating champion in her teenage years.[2]

Ablett-Kerr studied law at the University of London and was admitted to the Bar in Cardiff in 1970, at the age of 22.[2] She was the second female barrister in Wales.[3]

Ablett-Kerr began her career as a Crown prosecutor in Wales.[3] She emigrated to New Zealand and settled in Dunedin in 1981. In April 1995 she was appointed a Queen's Counsel, becoming the third female and the first female criminal defence lawyer in New Zealand to be made a QC.[2]

Ablett-Kerr has served as defence lawyer in a number of high-profile cases. In the mid-1990s she and Greg King successfully defended scientist Vicky Calder against charges of attempted murder. She worked for childcare worker Peter Ellis following his conviction in the Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre case, and defended Clayton Weatherston for the murder of Sophie Elliott.[2]

Ablett-Kerr has defended a number of women in domestic violence cases, most notably Gay Oakes, who was convicted for burying her partner in their garden but released on parole in 2002.[1]

In the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, Ablett-Kerr was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the legal profession.[4]