Veteran libel lawyer Carman dies

LONDON, England -- George Carman QC, Britain's most celebrated libel lawyer, has died at the age of 71, his family has announced.

Carman, who won cases for a host of clients ranging from superstar musician Elton John to Egyptian tycoon Mohamed Al Fayed, was renowned for his fearsome cross-examination skills.

He retired from the Bar in August on the advice of his doctor and intended to use his retirement to write a book about his experiences in the world of British law.

Dubbed "Gorgeous George," the thrice-married Carman entered a seminary in his teens but swapped his aspirations of becoming a priest for the lawyer's life after taking up a scholarship to study at Oxford.

He was called to the Bar in 1953 and practiced on the Northern Circuit before vaulting to national fame in 1979 with his successful defence of Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe, who was acquitted of attempting to murder a gay model.

He moved into the libel arena in the 1990s, where he solidified his reputation for winning big cases.

Carman won damages for Elton John and represented a host of sporting figures from Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar to cricketers Imran Khan and Ian Botham.

He also represented the Guardian newspaper against Jonathan Aitken, producing last-minute documents to raise suspicions that the former Conservative Cabinet minister had lied under oath about a stay at the Ritz hotel in Paris.

The Guardian won the libel case and Aitken was later sentenced to 18 months in jail for perjury.

Former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton also faced Carman when he unsuccessfully sued Fayed for libel in 1999, and called the Blackpool-born barrister a "worthy adversary."

Reuters contributed to this report.

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