Constance Briscoe
18/01/2006
As a child, she was beaten and mentally abused by her Mother who hated her looks, yet went on to become one of the first black female judges in Britain. Constance Briscoe's autobiography, UGLY tells us how the injustice she suffered as a child, fuelled her determination to climb to the top in the legal world.
Ten years ago, Constance Briscoe became one of the first female black judges in the UK. She lives in South London with her partner, writer and QC, Tony Arlidge and their two children Martin and Francesca.
Constance’s Story
Odd child out
From the age of 5 Constance was physically and mentally abused by her Mother. Although she had two older sisters and five younger sisters she was singled out and was told that she was constantly told that she was ugly. "Have you looked in the mirror recently? Look at those lips - you didn't get them from my side of the family, that's for sure. Why don't you use them to clean out the blocked sink?"
Mother and Father
Constance's Mother called her Claire, it came from Clear, and Constance says that the name make her feel see through. "My Mother looked more like a film star than a parent. My Father George was good looking too. . . . They came to England in the 50's in search of a good life. But the marriage did not last and by the time I came along in 1957, it was virtually over"
Constance's Father had won the pools and wisely spent his money on a number of properties around South London, which he rented out. "He spent most of his time cruising around in [a silver grey capri] and chain smoking. . . . In the early days after he left, my Mother would persuade him to go to bed with her and, if he fell a sleep afterwards, she would remove large wads of cash from his pockets. It must have been on one of these occasions when she fell pregnant with me"
Violence and wetting the bed
Constance's Mother started a relationship with a man called 'Eastman' who also was sexually abused by her stepfather on one occasion. In fact she took him to Court at 13 to stop him abusing her - it was her first taste of the legal system and would fuel her ambition for a career in the future. But the constant cruelty came from her mother, who not only beat and kicked her, but spat at her and deprived her of food. She would punch her adolescent bosom and pull her nipples to punish her. She inflicted such damage that doctors at first believed lumps in her breasts, discovered when she was 12, were the result of cancer, not cruelty.
One of the triggers for her rages was Constance's bed wetting. Her Mother took her to specialists, who gave her blankets with sensors and alarms to wake her up before she wet the bed, but it never worked. Her Mother would beat her before bed, to deter her from wetting the bed. In the end she made her sleep in her wet and soiled sheets as a punishment.
Ambitions to be a Barrister
Constance made up her mind that she wanted to be a Barrister on a school trip to Knightsbridge courts "I had been promised a helping hand by one of the top lawyers in the land, Michael Mansfield, after a chance meeting on a school visit to a court case."
University
"Only my hopes for the future kept me going. But as the time came for me to think about applying to universities and leaving home for good, my mother's cruelty nearly cost me my chance of happiness." Constance won a place at Newcastle, to study law. When Constance asked her Mother to fill out a grant form, she ripped it up 'Only clever people go to university.'
Constance visited her Mother just before she went to University 'I want you to know that I'm off to university,' I said. 'I also want you to know that I have no intention of ever returning home,' I continued. 'And that I will never speak to you again -- ever -- as long as I live.' 'All I have ever wanted was a mum who loved me, not hated me, loved me.' I'd said it. At last I'd said what I wanted to say. That was nearly 30 years ago -- and I have not set foot inside my mother's house since.
Between 1979 and 1982 Constance remained in Newcastle. In 1983, she qualified as a barrister, having completed one year at the Inns of Court School of Law in London.
"I wrote to Mr Mansfield again to tell him my news, and to ask when I could start my pupillage." He agreed straight away.
Contance's Life now
Now a successful barrister who works as a part-time judge in the crown and county courts. She has written the book to let her children, now teenagers, know "something about their mum", and at the behest of her partner, Tony Arlidge, a writer and QC.
Ugly by Constance Briscoe, to be published by Hodder & Stoughton on January 16 at £12.99
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24-01-06, 02:18 PM
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