“‘Hull, Hell and Halifax!’ This denouncement from an elderly, pompous, snuff-taking stripy-trousered QC when I told him I was studying at the University of Hull was enough to put me off a career at the Bar. My turning point came later when I realised that a Desmond from Hull University and becoming a barrister weren’t actually incompatible…
“The closest I got to the Bar at university was an ill-fated trip to the Inner Temple where I had tea with someone who I then feared might be characteristic of all barristers everywhere – a Rumpole of the Bailey type figure (without Rumpole’s redeeming features), complete with a tin of snuff in his pocket.
