Bobbie Cheema-Grubb
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb | |
|---|---|
| Justice of the High Court | |
| Assumed office 25 November 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Sir Kenneth Parker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Parmjit-kaur Cheema 6 October 1966 Yorkshire, UK |
| Spouse |
Russell Grubb (m. 1990) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | City of Leeds School King's College London |
Dame Parmjit Kaur "Bobbie" Cheema-Grubb, DBE (née Cheema; born 6 October 1966), styled Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, is a judge of the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales.[1][2] She is the first Asian woman to serve as a High Court judge in the United Kingdom.
Early life and education
[edit]Parmjit Kaur Cheema was born in 1966 to Sikh Punjabi parents who emigrated from India to Great Britain in the 1960s.[3] She grew up in Yorkshire, and attended City of Leeds School before reading law at King's College London.[4][5]
Legal career
[edit]Called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1989,[6][7] Cheema-Grubb, in 2006, became the first Asian woman to be appointed a Junior Treasury Counsel.[4] In 2007, she was appointed to sit as a Recorder.
In 2013, Cheema-Grubb took silk (QC)[6] serving as Senior Treasury Counsel before receiving authorisation to sit as a deputy High Court judge.[6] She chaired an Advocacy Training Council working group which produced the report "Raising the Bar: The Handling of Vulnerable Witnesses, Victims and Defendants in Court".[8]
Cheema-Grubb successfully acted for the prosecution against retired Anglican Bishop Peter Ball for sexual abuse[9] and against barrister and Recorder Constance Briscoe for perverting the course of justice.[10]
Judiciary
[edit]Appointed as a High Court judge on 22 October 2015,[6] Cheema-Grubb was sworn in to the Queen's Bench on 25 November 2015,[5] receiving the customary accolade of the Realm as DBE.[11]
In 2025, Cheema-Grubb was judge at the trial of Nathan Gill, the former leader of Reform UK in Wales, whom she sentenced to 10-and-a-half years for taking pro-Russia bribes.[12]
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Personal life
[edit]In 1990, she married Russell Grubb and they have three children.[13] They are practising Christians.[14]
Notable cases
[edit]- 2017 Finsbury Park attack
- Daniel Khalife
- David Carrick (serial rapist)
- David Fuller
- Death of Harry Dunn
- Murder of Zara Aleena
- Murders of Anne Castle and William Bryan
- Prosper family murders
- Ahmed Ali Alid (Hartlepool terror attack 2023)[15]
References
[edit]- ^ "Senior Judiciary". Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ^ "Dame Parmjit Kaur (Bobbie) Cheema-Grubb DBE became the first Asian woman judge in the High Court in October 2015". Twitter.com. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ Kumar, Reena (12 November 2015). "Bobbie Cheema-Grubb: First Asian woman judge in high court". EasternEye. London, UK. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
- ^ a b "Law Diary". The Times. London, UK. 21 November 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ^ a b "First Asian female High Court judge sworn in". BBC News. BBC. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ^ a b c d "High Court Judge Appointment: Cheema-Grubb". Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 22 October 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ^ Wilson, Mairi. "Dame Bobbie Cheema-Grubb". graysinn.org.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
- ^ www.judiciary.uk
- ^ Davies, Caroline (23 October 2015). "High court appoints Bobbie Cheema-Grubb as its first Asian female judge". The Guardian. London, UK. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ^ "Two more women elevated to High Court bench". Law Society Gazette. London, UK. 22 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ^ www.npg.org.uk
- ^ "Ex-leader of Reform UK in Wales sentenced to 10-and-a-half years for taking pro-Russia bribes". BBC News. BBC. 21 November 2025. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
- ^ www.city.ac.uk
- ^ "Christian barrister becomes first Asian female High Court judge". Premier.org. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- ^ Author31 (17 May 2024). "Man Given Life Sentence for Hartlepool Terrorist Attack". Counter Terrorism Policing. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
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- Living people
- 1966 births
- 21st-century British women lawyers
- 21st-century English judges
- Alumni of King's College London
- Associates of King's College London
- Converts to Christianity from Sikhism
- Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
- English people of Indian descent
- English people of Punjabi descent
- English women judges
- Lawyers awarded damehoods
- Lawyers from Leeds
- Members of Gray's Inn
- People educated at Leeds City Academy
- Queen's Bench Division judges