The Legendary
Sean Patrick Cluderay
12 March 1951 - 29 December 2019
Sean at Val D'Or Golf - one of his regular haunts in his favourite location - Cala D'or, Mallorca
Sean, with a beer and a fag? Who would have thought?
We're not here for sad stories, we're here to CELEBRATE all that was Sean
He was a massive character, a BIG personality; 'marmite' like.
You either loved or hated him.
For those of us who loved him & were privileged to be his friends,
he was stubborn, awkward, difficult, cantankerous and the BEST FUN EVER.
He was generous, wise, intelligent, astute, intuitive and caring,
he loved wine, beer, fags, horses, rugby, women, Bette Midler, his friends
and above all he loved LIFE.
He frequently quoted Hunter S Thompson
and in an email in 2012 adapted it as follows:-
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention
of arriving safely in an attractive and well-presented body,
but rather to skid in sideways-Sauvignon Blanc in one hand -
Coffee and Brandy in the other - body thoroughly used up,
totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO, what a ride!!"
We want this to be a depository of your stories -
your recollections of whoever Sean was to you
late 60'S WITH MICHAEL SHAW
early 1970's
What Others Say
Sean and we were long standing friends particularly in our professions and he was very supportive of me when I changed over to the Bar. He and I handled some very difficult high profile cases and I always found his paper preparation and briefing immaculate and dependable in all respects resulting in some remarkable against the odds successes. In the Magistrates Court he was outstanding and a formidable lawyer and advocate.
After we both retired and before I moved to Israel we had a drink and "natter " together and have kept in touch these last five years.
He had a sharp practical down to earth wise mind and a wonderful dry sense of humour, with no two faces.
FREDDY APFEL
I was very fond of Sean indeed.
In fact, if it wasn’t for his significant involvement in my life (together with the rest of my legal team at my trial), my daughter Imogen wouldn’t have been born, because I’d have been in prison!
I was arrested for a serious assault. Once ventilated in front of a jury, they readily accepted my account of self defence, and I was acquitted.
However, the scariest part of the whole case was Sean turning up sober to represent me in my police interview! He was much better with a modicum of inebriation!
A few years ago, Nick Hammond rang me to tell me Sean was in hospital in Wakefield. I went to see him. He wasn’t allowed off the ward. But he persuaded me to ‘borrow’ one of the white coats in the ward office to wheel him down to the entrance to have a cigarette. A ploy that he had no doubt successfully deployed many times previously.
He was a good man, a cunning criminal lawyer, and a solid friend.
CHRIS DUNN
On returning to our Marbella hotel at a very late hour Sean or “marine boy “ took a wrong turn walking straight down the disabled ramp and into the pool only realising when five feet deep. After eventually finding his room still dripping wet he salvaged the important things by pegging his cigs on the washing line one by one. This was about 3am
PETE WHEELAN
I'm gutted, I loved him, despite the fact he was a fucking nuisance.
MICK MILLER
I was a District Judge at Leeds Magistrates Court and knew Sean very well through his many appearances as a prominent defence solicitor.
After my retirement I found out that he was poorly and went to see him at Pinderfields Hospital. I’m not entirely sure that he was regarded as a model patient there.
He had a large room to himself and we chatted, but after a while but he told me that he could do with a cigarette. He asked me to take him out into the open air and so he got into a wheelchair and I pushed him down the corridor and into the lift. Once outside he seemed perfectly happy to sit there in his dressing gown and pyjamas even though the weather was decidedly cool.
He smoked two or three fags. When I asked him whether he should be going back to the ward he said that there was no problem in him staying out for a while and that the previous week some friends- had come to see him. They had smuggled him and his wheelchair not only out of the ward and the building but out of the hospital grounds. Not surprisingly perhaps they had wheeled him to a nearby pub although much to his disappointment he was served with what he called a ‘rubbish pint’.
He was at large for an hour or so.
I enquired whether the medical staff had seemed concerned about his absence when he got back. ‘No, no’ he said. ’They hadn’t bothered about me at all- but they were really worried about the wheelchair’.
ROY ANDERSON
I was Sean’s secretary for over 20 years and he helped me and my family out with various problems over the years. He never hesitated.
In the office what sticks in mind was the state of his desk but he knew exactly where everything was. He could phone up from out of the office and say can you go and get a telephone number for me, it is on my desk to the right hand side, under 3 files and 7 notes and there it would be. I would take great pleasure when he was on holiday in spending an hour or three tidying his desk, so it would be all neat and tidy upon his return, which he hated and in the end threatened me with the sack if I ever did it again! He liked the chaos better!
He was a wonderful man and will be sorely missed.
SIMONE KILLEN
Sean Cluderay. What a surname. We had people asking for Mr Chuddery, Mr Chowdrey, Mr Clowdy….
Always a “can you spell that”
Christmas. Sean didn’t do Christmas Cards but he sent gifts to his many friends. Every Christmas myself and his secretary would be told “here wrap this for me, don’t get excited as it’s not for you, hee hee”
Speaking of Christmas and our office party. Sean always enjoyed a trip to the Beech Public House, I have many memories of the darts and games of cards we played there. Once even ended up playing strip poker and I will never forget Andy Davison sat topless, he wasn’t getting a good hand that day..
Sean always enjoyed a “few” drinks on our nights out. When he first came, we younger ones at the time would make sure he got safely in a taxi and onwards to his home. This was a task which was past down to newer members of staff as they arrived at Tates. Sean and his funny stories. He had us enthralled with his tales, a lot them I am sure you will have heard already. The younger members of staff loved also hearing the tales, adopting him as their ‘father figure’ and taking on the job of getting him safely into his taxi at the end of the night.
There are many more but these are my favourites.
JAYNE WRIGHT
Sean made a serious attempt on the life of his guests by insisting that his 'conscripted caterer' re-create a recipe he'd found in the Sunday Times. It consisted of smoked salmon, avocado, pea shoots, radish, beetroot and horseradish.
It looked and sounded delicious, the only problem was he insisted on using this packet of smoked salmon, which had been in his freezer for 17 years & had moved with him from his house in Lumby!
One guest, despite being warned of the contents, declared it delicious & proceeded to eat it all with no ill effect whatsoever!
From William Tate
President of the States Of Alderney
The Inimitable Sean Cluderay
I first met Sean in 1978. Newly qualified advocates were despatched to the Outer Courts on the basis that there were fewer people to witness you making an arse of yourself!
Sean had a reputation which caused us to make sure that our knowledge of the Law and process were on the ball. I struggle to think of a contemporary, who had his breadth of knowledge.
He went to the school of “not suffering fools gladly”, which always focussed the mind, before trotting out something that you hoped was correct.
For reasons l cannot explain, we hit it off straight away. Perhaps it was because we were both “ Loiners” with good looks and charisma! Sounds good to me.
Over the next few years, although we were not close friends, we always got on well both inside and outside the Court.
As my newly formed practice expanded in the 1980’s, l started to look for people l thought would fit in with my way of doing things.
Criminal Law is a fickle business. In addition to being able to do the job in a professional manner, it was almost more important to be able to connect with the clients.
I think with our respective backgrounds and attitude to life, we were both able to understand and connect with the clients in a way that inspired confidence.
I knew instinctively that Sean had all the qualities needed to help the practice prosper and grow.
I have to say that there were those who thought it may not suit him but I had no such doubts.
If l say so myself it was an inspired piece of lateral thinking on my part.
Duck and water spring to mind
When l subsequently decided to cast caution to the wind and chance my arm at the Bar, it was vital that the people who took the baton were able to carry on the practice, maintaining the hard won reputation, that we had all helped to achieve.
I know that he thought long and hard and no doubt had a few sleepless nights. With sound advice from those close to him, he decided to take the plunge. He need not have wasted any sleep. From my new perspective,I saw the practice continue to flourish.
This was a very unfamiliar world to Sean. Being responsible for people’s jobs is a real responsibility. The changeover was seamless, as l knew it would be. He was able to add “ businessman” to his other achievements.
As you will probably know, we opted out in 1996 and came to live on Alderney.
I called into the office soon after on my way to see my father. I have not seen Sean since then.
I often wonder how it is possible to have such a close bond with someone that you do not see.
We have spoken regularly over the years. He always talked about our time together and how much he enjoyed his professional career.
We would also moan about the current state of the Justice system, both acknowledging that we had had the best of times, before the horrendous slashing of budgets.
Since his first admission to hospital 4 years ago, our conversations have deepened. He always commented to me about the support he had received from family and friends. He was fortunate to have been surrounded by such caring people, who l am sure, on occasions, found it challenging to say the least. The support from former clients caused some eyebrows to be raised. It is not for others to judge. The reality was that these were people who did not need to offer their support, they did so as a mark of their respect for him and were simply repaying him for the help he had given to them over the years.
He also enjoyed my newfound status! He could always be relied upon to keep my feet on the ground and was quick to point out if l was getting a bit worthy, as if! He used to listen to us both expounding on our local radio.
He would also listen on the radio to my refereeing our Legislative Assembly and subsequently give me a critique of my performance.
My tongue in cheek Christmas Card, l understand, was well received. I was going to draw something rude on it, but my Chief of Staff, counselled against it. Wise advice as it turned out.
We had an unusually long conversation on Christmas Eve. As usual we reminisced about the good old days and how lucky he had been to get the last 4 years. Our phone call ended on an unusually emotional basis. I cannot help but think that he suspected it could have been our last “ chat”. There was something slightly final about it.
Although we all knew it would not last forever, it still came as a shock. Having said that, he would not have signed up to spending time in hospital in challenging circumstances.
All that is left to say, is that the world has lost yet another character, the likes of which will not be replaced.
The background picture above features Tates' original office
" During a trip to Spain after a particularly lengthy social evening Chris Idle , Elaine , myself and Sean were returning to our accommodation via a taxi. Chris and I had well meaningfully but naively given Sean a firm but fair word on his need to slow his drinking down.
Sean listened intently but then without hesitation, as the taxi had slowed to go around a roundabout, opened the rear door, completed a forward roll then a double pike with twist before miraculously landing on two feet in a bar on the roadside
If completed in the Olympics the manoeuvre would have got tens from the judges. I walked back to the bar where Sean was now ensconsed with a double brandy and large red wine in front of him ….Absolutely incredible !!! I realised any talk of alcohol reduction was futile..What a man!"
JOHN
...
The famous Elviria roundabout and bar!
Along with my sister Chris and my husband Pete, I’ve had the pleasure of spending a good deal of time in Sean’s company. He was a great friend who was very supportive of us in difficult times.
We will never forget the fun, happy and hilarious times spent in his company both here and in his beloved Majorca. Cala D’Or has since become a firm favourite for us, entirely as a result of Sean introducing it to us and generously inviting us to stay in many of the lovely villas he rented there.
Fortunately, we weren’t present on the occasion Sean accidentally locked everyone out of the villa. I understand it was probably one of the worst nights in the history of Majorcan weather, which meant everyone had to shelter from the cold and rain in an outhouse, trying to sleep on a table-tennis table. Sean meanwhile, warm and comfortable inside, had a blissful night and surfaced bright and cheery the following morning, wondering where his guests had got to 🤣. The deposit, unsurprisingly, took a hit for tennis table damage
There were lots of ‘incidents’ in the company of Cluds. Two that spring to mind are the time he was very keen for us to join him at the Grand Theatre to watch the legal drama ‘A Few Good Men’. No more than 5 minutes of the play had elapsed before he began snoring loudly and had to be awoken and escorted home by JD. We all thoroughly enjoyed it, except JD of course 🤣. Then there was the time in one of his favourite Tapas bars, when, on his way back from having a fag (much to his chagrin, as he would say) he accidentally caused an enormous antique model aeroplane, in the centre of the restaurant, to take flight off its pedestal and land on the floor; fortunately undamaged. Errr… taxi please! 🤣
Thanks for all the good times Cluds. We’ll miss you lots but you will be in our thoughts and conversation always and we’ll raise many glasses to you here and in Cala D’Or in fond remembrance!
Lots of love from Neets and Pete
For quite a long time I used to stay with Sean every Thursday night at his house in Drighlington.We would join several pals at The Greyhound pub at Tong or a similar hostelry and have four or five beers before ‘driving’home (no limit in those days).He would make us some dinner and a couple of Sean’s special stingers consisting of a quarter tumbler of Gin ,quarter of Martini bianco and then half glass of tonic water with ice and lemon.
We normally had a couple of these, then with dinner we would have some wine and played a game of chess whilst listening to Gilbert and Sullivan or Joe Cocker’s ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’.We never finished a game of chess that either of us could remember. One time we came downstairs next morning to find a ‘Police Notice’ pushed through the letterbox and were puzzled as to what it related. Apparently half the street had been up after my car alarm went off from an attempted break in and the police had been called.Both the neighbours and police had been hammering on Sean’s door for an age trying to get our attention but of course we were ‘comatosed’ and heard nothing.
The neighbours were not happy as the alarm was going for an age and gave Sean a bit of grief.However it was carry on as usual the next week Sean deciding that it was all a bit of excitement for the street and thought we had done them a favour in giving them something to talk about !
STUART
Sean and I were both employed in the Courts and spent a great deal of time together whilst studying at Manchester for three years.
We had many 'fun' times (mainly in Discos and Casinos) and laughed a great deal. He was best man at my wedding and delivered a great speach without embarrassing me too much!
He often came for the weekend, with his current girlfriend, which usually involved lots of food and wine (alkazeltzer were essential!)
He made us all laugh and teased our young daughters relentlessly - they loved it!
He was a man you could not help but love and love him we did. This is how I will always and forever remember my good friend Sean.
He will be greatly missed by a great many.
STAN
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