Name David Burgess | Role Lawyer | |
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Died October 25, 2010, Kings Cross, London, United Kingdom Education St Catharine's College, Cambridge | ||
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David Burgess (25 September 1947 – 25 October 2010) was a leading British immigration lawyer.
Burgess obtained a number of landmark decisions from British courts and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on behalf of immigrant clients. Notably, as a result of an ECHR decision in favour of 52 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers represented by Burgess, British law was changed to allow asylum seekers to appeal against refusal of asylum before having to leave the country.
Burgess was married to Youdon Lhamo, and they had three children (two biological and one adopted) in their twenty years of marriage. In 2005, they separated. Burgess, who was transgender, then began to transition from male to female, adopting the name Sonia Burgess, but continued to use the name and gender assigned at birth whilst practicing law.
In October 2010, Burgess was killed after being pushed under a train. The perpetrator, Senthooran 'Nina' Kanagasingham, was found guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to schizophrenia, and was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment with a minimum of seven years to serve.