header-logo header-logo

Christine Keeler: In pursuit of truth

10 October 2025 / Dr Jon Robins
Issue: 8134 / Categories: Features , Human rights , Criminal
printer mail-detail
231869
Jon Robins reports on a petition to posthumously exonerate Christine Keeler

Earlier this year, the son of the woman at the centre of the country’s most infamous sex scandal—the Profumo affair—handed in a petition to the Ministry of Justice, calling on the Lord Chancellor to recommend that the king exercise his royal prerogative of mercy.

Christine Keeler was jailed for nine months in 1963 for giving misleading information in court and obstructing the course of justice, in a case in which she was the victim of violence and her attacker (and her stalker) actually admitted the violence.

In May, Seymour Platt, Keeler’s son, together with her granddaughter and legal team, including the human rights barrister Felicity Gerry KC, handed in the petition together with a 300-page dossier.

Historic discrimination against women

According to Gerry, Keeler’s 1963 conviction for perjury was the ‘ultimate in slut-shaming’ and her posthumous exoneration would be an overdue opportunity to acknowledge historic discrimination against women in the justice system.

The writer Rebecca West captured

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Kate Gaskell, Flex Legal

NLJ Career Profile: Kate Gaskell, Flex Legal

Kate Gaskell, CEO of Flex Legal, reflects on chasing her childhood dreams underscores the importance of welcoming those from all backgrounds into the profession

Dorsey & Whitney—Jonathan Christy

Dorsey & Whitney—Jonathan Christy

Dispute resolution team welcomes associate in London

Winckworth Sherwood—Kevin McManamon

Winckworth Sherwood—Kevin McManamon

Special education needs and mental capacity expert joins as partner

NEWS
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
In Ward v Rai, the High Court reaffirmed that imprecise points of dispute can and will be struck out. Writing in NLJ this week, Amy Dunkley of Bolt Burdon Kemp reports on the decision and its implications for practitioners
Could the Supreme Court’s ruling in R v Hayes; R v Palombo unintentionally unsettle future complex fraud trials? Maia Cohen-Lask of Corker Binning explores the question in NLJ this week
back-to-top-scroll