'Liberal giant' Sir Ludovic Kennedy, tireless opponent of injustice, dies at 89

Published on Monday 19 October 2009 21:57

THE distinguished Scottish broadcaster, author and campaigner Sir Ludovic Kennedy has died. He was 89.

Sir Ludovic, who was born in Edinburgh, is thought to have been in a frail condition for some time after developing pneumonia following a fall last year.

He was a BBC presenter and published his own investigations into well-known crimes; his work is credited with contributing to the abolition of the death penalty. Sir Ludovic's family said that he had passed away on Sunday at a nursing home in Salisbury.

Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC, said: "Ludovic Kennedy was one of the giants of post-war broadcasting.

"His integrity and the tenacity of his investigative journalism, particularly where he saw injustice, won him the respect and trust of generations of audiences. He will be remembered not only for his achievements as a broadcaster, writer and campaigner, but also as someone of tremendous warmth and humanity."

In his later years, the sometime Liberal Democrat campaigner was also an advocate of assisted dying and one of his many books is titled Euthanasia – the Good Death.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said: "Ludovic Kennedy was one of the great thinkers of his generation. His pursuit of justice and his championing of sometimes unpopular and controversial causes marked him out as a true liberal. He will be greatly missed."

Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, last night paid tribute to Sir Ludovic's "integrity and independence".

"Sir Ludovic was an outstanding broadcaster and a household name who was a formidable campaigner on a range of important issues, notably when it came to miscarriages of justice.

"In his political career he will be remembered as the first Liberal candidate to achieve a major by-election result in the post-war period. He was a lifelong free-thinking member of the Liberal Party."

Eton-educated Sir Ludovic followed his sea captain father into the navy, serving aboard destroyers in the Arctic and North Atlantic during the Second World War.

He later went to Oxford's Christ Church College and began a career in journalism, moving from print publications such as Newsweek to TV work. He was an ITN newsreader and later an anchorman for the BBC's Panorama. For many BBC viewers, he will be best known for his appearances on the BBC2 TV review show Did You See...? but it was his campaigns against injustice which were among the most fulfilling parts of his career.

His celebrated book 10 Rillington Place, later turned into a film starring Lord Attenborough, demonstrated that Timothy Evans had been wrongly convicted of a murder committed by the serial killer John Christie. Mr Evans was later pardoned and the case was a component in the abolition of the death penalty.

Sir Ludovic was also a candidate at the first by-election to be given live TV coverage when he stood as a Liberal for the Rochdale seat in 1958. He lost to Labour but managed a huge boost for Liberal fortunes.

He was married to ballet dancer Moira Shearer, who starred in the classic ballet film The Red Shoes. The couple, who had a son and three daughters, were married for 56 years until her death in 2006.